Education Ministry Hails D&G Foundation’s Commitment to HEART for Youth Development

June 30, 2017 JA-Blogz News Team

The Ministry of Education has lauded the Desnoes & Geddes (D&G) Foundation for its ongoing commitment to youth development, which will see the entity investing $17 million this year.

Through its partnership with the HEART Trust NTA, 2500 young Jamaicans will be trained under the Foundation’s Learning For Life Project Employability Programme.

“I’m very impressed by the D&G Foundation and its focus on enriching lives because when you educate a man, you build him for life”, said Dean-Roy Bernard, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information who spoke at Wednesday’s(June 28) signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the D&G Foundation and HEART, which is an agency of the Ministry.

Speaking on behalf of Education Minister Senator Ruel Reid, Mr. Bernard encouraged graduates to use the skills garnered in the programme to effect change in their communities. “The notion that education is the indispensable leader in the facilitation of social, political and economic mobility of our people cannot be disputed,” he asserted.

The signing of the MOU is the first phase of the Programme which will see the Foundation providing full tuition support for qualified students enrolled in the various modules at HEART. Project Employability, which started on June 5, will also include courses in Social Media Management, Small Business Management and a CSEC night academy. Additionally, the Programme has an element called Certified Bar, specifically targeting bar owners, to meet the demands of the youth labour force.

HEART’s Senior Director for TVET Development and Support Systems, Dr. Marcia Rowe-Amonde reiterated the agency’s appreciation to the Foundation. “Entities like the D&G Foundation create employment opportunities that facilitate wealth creation which is the backbone for private sector expansion. They are critical to youth development, they are a catalyst for economic development which is vital to Jamaica’s sustained growth.”

With the targeted number of trainees this year, Project Employability is poised to help the Foundation deliver on its ambition of training 15,000 young apprentices by 2018. Approximately 12,000 Jamaicans have already benefited from training programmes under the Learning For Life Programme since its inception in 2008. Funding for the programme is provided by the D&G Foundation which is the charitable arm of beer producer Red Stripe.

(L-R) Noel DaCosta, Chairman, D&G Foundation; Dr. Marcia Rowe Amonde, Senior Director TVET Development and Support Systems; Elizabeth Terry, Acting Senior Director, Workforce Development and Employment, the HEART Trust/NTA; and Dean-Roy Bernard, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information at the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding to establish the 2017/2018 installment of the Red Stripe Learning For Life initiative, which is designed to empower and equip youths in the 18-34 age group with skills training and employment opportunities.

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