HEART/NSTA Trust’s fee removal a nail in the coffins of vocational training institutions

This decree took effect April 1, 2023 and according to the Prime Minister is a vital step towards having a fully trained and certified labour force, a critical area that the country is presently lacking to meet its own demand.

Predictably there has been a noticeable increase in interests from Jamaicans wanting to become certified through the state-owned skilled-based agency, a point highlighted by Dr Taneisha Ingleton, managing director of the HEART/NSTA Trust, according to media reports.

The new policy shift will see the HEART/NSTA Trust forgoing some $58 million in tuition fees this fiscal year, but Dr Ingleton in a Jamaica Observer article, says confidently this will not pose a challenge for the entity to deliver on its mandate.

What is however conspicuously absent from the HEART/NSTA Trust’s new plan of action is how it will manage to enroll the estimated target of 117,000 students for the 2023/24 period given its limited capacity to handle such vast numbers.

That 117,000 target will see the HEART/NSTA Trust doubling its numbers when compared with previous years. There are currently about 30 training facilities islandwide owned and operated by the HEART/NSTA Trust.

In years gone by the HEART/NSTA Trust have been able certified under 60,000 students annually with the aid of partner entities such as community colleges and privately-run vocational training centres.

It would appear, at least at this point, that the 11 community colleges and over 100 vocational training schools will not have a role to play in this new paradigm shift being led by the HEART/NSTA Trust.

“I am anticipating what is not said yet. What has been said will lead to the closure of over a hundred community-based training institutions referred to as community training interventions (CTIs). That is the HEART term used to classify us, CTIs. We operate more than two-thirds of the training facilities across the country. So what has been said will close us. However, I am waiting on what is yet to be said because what isn’t said yet is what gonna keep us going,” said Randy Finnikin, chairman, Institute of Vocational and Professional Training (IVPT) based in Spring Village here in southwest St Catherine.

Corrine Richards, principal of the Portmore Community College had promised to speak to Old Harbour News on record but is yet to do so. She did note during our brief chat that the PCC was not consulted prior to the Prime Minister’s announcement in Parliament.

Tuition fees for students enrolled at community colleges and CTIs are subsidized by the HEART/NSTA Trust, a longstanding arrangement dating back many years and several political administrations.

Old Harbour News contacted the communications department of the HEART/NSTA and was instructed by a Shavar Cameron to email our questions, which was done pronto.
We are still awaiting a reply from the HEART/NSTA trust.

While we wait, Finnikin and indeed all recognised vocational hubs across the island are also waiting too to hear from them.

“The Sixth Form Pathway Programme is the first nail in the coffin you know; because if you are going to keep youngsters in the high school system up until age 20 is a slap in the face of your partners who have invested billions,” Finnikin added.

“They usually don’t consult us. Community-based organizations don’t have a seat on HEART's board. They call us partners but we are not partners. They dictate to us. They tell us 'sign here, this is what the higher ups discussed and agreed on for you'… and you can’t change it. In all of my years, and its over 30 years, never have we sat around the table and look at the real issues affecting the delivery and they agree to help us to do that.”

According Finnikin attempts have been made to establish a more unified approach to skill training and certification with the formation of the Alliance of Community-based Training Organisation (ACTO). ACTO, he said, would be HEART/NSTA Trust’s “greatest partner” and was in fact welcome by the state agency. But to date ACTO is yet to be given a seat at the policy level where the real decisions are made.

“The solution is for the government to fund the things that they don’t fund currently. Community-based organizations have to provide buildings, have to provide equipment, have to provide furniture, have to provide some of the personnel. So that is what the next announcement must include if it is not a mass shutdown that is contemplated.

“HEART doesn’t have the capacity. They never had and they never will. You think the government can shut down in the next five years 100 facilities and build 15? You think they have the money to do that? And their model is more expensive than ours,” said Finnikin.