The HEART Trust/NTA, Empowering Jamaicans

Marketing and Promotions Officer at the St. Ann’s Bay HEART Trust/ NTA, Althea Martin has informed JIS News that the national training agency is in the process of recruiting persons, ages 17 and older to access skills training and certification.

“We have been mandated with the responsibility to train and certify Jamaican citizens for employment. HEART is not just here for the youth of this country but for all able bodied working age Jamaican citizen,” she said.

Noting that there were 27 HEART training institutions in the island, Mrs. Martin said that persons could easily access training at any institution that was closest to them.

She further mentioned that persons could also access training and certification outside these institutions, under the community based training programme.

“There is the Community Based Training whereby persons can access training through community projects and programmes. These persons are given the opportunity to empower themselves through some kind of entrepreneurial activity, based on a community project,” she explained.

Mrs. Martin also pointed out that persons who had been trained in a particular skill area and were operating without certification could become certified through the HEART programme.

“Those persons can come in to us and have us do the necessary assessment that would allow for certification. Through this assessment, we sometimes find that persons might be in need of additional training and so we arrange for the training to take place, then provide the certification after the completed assessment,” she said.

Mrs. Martin appealed to persons who are interested in acquiring a skill, to apply to the HEART Trust/NTA and access the training in any skills area of their choice and empower themselves to become productive citizens of the country.