Sheena Gayle, Freelance Writer

( L - R ) Golding, Dunn-Smith

WESTERN BUREAU:

Stakeholders in education and job training are very concerned with Jamaica's low workforce productivity rate.

Senior director of the National Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Paulette Dunn-Smith, revealed that Jamaica represents a staggering statistic of low certification among skilled workers which creates a deficiency in productivity.

Few certified

"Right now, only 30 per cent of the persons who have any training are certified, so we have 70 per cent left without any certification. We are not very competitive when compared to the rest of the world in sectors such as manufacturing," she said.

The issue was raised during the HEART Trust/NTA's fourth annual Competency Based Education & Training Conference at the Rose Hall Resort and Country Club in Montego Bay last Thursday.

At the conference dinner later that night, Prime Minister Bruce Golding reiterated the senior director's sentiments, saying the Jamaican workforce was lacking.

The prime minister said that as part of his Government's revamp of the education ministry, the school leaving age would be increased to 18 years.