Youth Urged To Take Advantage Of Apprenticeship Programme

Education Minister, Hon. Rev. Ronald Thwaites, is imploring more young people to participate in the Registered Apprenticeship Programme offered by the HEART Trust/NTA.

The programme places participants with a business enabling them to earn a stipend while gaining valuable industry experience.

“Young people, how many times do you look at advertisements that say they want a person with experience as well as certification? Apprenticeship offers you that opportunity. I urge you to take advantage of it,” Rev. Thwaites said.

He was addressing the 2014/15 graduation ceremony of the Career Advancement Programme (CAP) held on Tuesday (December 8), at the Karram-Speid Auditorium, Merl Grove High School, Kingston.

A total of 1,221 students from 55 institutions were presented with certificates for successfully completing studies in a range of technical and vocational subjects.

Of the 55 CAP centres, 30 are high schools, 22 are public and private tertiary institutions, and three are private skills development centres.

Minister Thwaites said the number of successful graduates is an indication of the wide range of educational opportunities being provided by the Government.

“Nobody needs to stop their education in Jamaica now. This Administration continues to provide a range of opportunities in education and training,” he noted.

The Minister also expressed appreciation to the public and private entities that have partnered with the Ministry to provide opportunities to CAP participants.

In his report, Chairman of the CAP Technical Working Committee, Dr. Cecil Cornwall, said that the programme has experienced a 60 per cent increase in certification over the 2013/14 period.

He further thanked parents and teachers for their dedication and support of the programme.

The students were engaged in skills training in 42 National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQJ) programmes across sectors such as agriculture, construction, education, health, information and communications technology (ICT), services and tourism.

The qualifications are in line with the recommended offerings from the HEART Trust/NTA Labour Market Information for Programme Rationalisation.

The CAP graduates are trained at the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ) levels one and two as well as City and Guilds vocational qualifications.

The programme graduated 600 participants in 2014.