TARA Graduates Lauded For Resilience

The newest graduates of the Tax Audit and Revenue Administration (TARA) programme have been lauded for their resilience in successfully completing the course, despite challenges.

The 23 individuals of Cohort 31 are the first participants in the post graduate diploma programme’s 36-year history to undertake online lessons, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Speaking at the graduation ceremony, held on October 5 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston, Tax Administration Jamaica (TAJ) Commissioner General, Ainsley Powell, commended the participants for adapting to the changes that were required, without much notice.

He said the graduates are now equipped with the required competencies to take their careers to the next level at the TAJ.

“It (TARA programme) has created a path for us to move through the organisation,” affirmed the Commissioner General, who was one of the first graduates of the programme when it began in 1986.

Facilitated through a collaboration with the Management Institute for National Development (MIND), the programme is currently designed to facilitate participants receiving approximately nine months of rigorous classroom training and another six months of on-the-job training.

Director, Public Service Capability Development at MIND, Natasha Gordon-Miller, in her overview, explained that the cohort of 24 trainees began in January 2020.

Paused by the pandemic in mid-March, sessions resumed in April through the agency’s Learning Management System, combined with synchronous sessions on its zoom education plus videoconferencing platform.

Participants, facilitators, and administrators were taken through a series of workshops on the use and functionality of the platforms. During the brief pause, the programme experienced several technical obstacles.

“We were, however, able to navigate the challenges and complexities presented, and were finally able to officially conclude the programme delivery in July of 2021,” Mrs. Gordon-Miller noted.

“I congratulate you all on being resilient in the face of rapid changes. This is the world we now live in and if we’re unable to respond quickly to change, then we are going to be left behind. I implore you to forge forward, as Jamaica’s vision is dependent on your success,” she told the graduates.

Valedictorian, Marlein Newman, said they studied in an environment they had never been before, “but we fought hard and we worked even harder to rise to the challenges presented”.

To date, the TARA programme has produced 670 graduates spanning 31 cohorts. The programme focuses on arrears management, filing, registration and customer service and is used to significantly bolster the capacity of the Revenue Authority in tax administration.

The 32nd cohort is scheduled to commence on October 21 with a cadre of 25 participants.