The FirstCaribbean International Building Society has partnered with Junior Achievement Jamaica in a practical approach to promoting entrepreneurship in Jamaica's schools.

The building society, through the 'Adopt A Cause' programme of the CIBC FirstCaribbean International Bank, has given several hours of volunteer service to the St Francis Primary School in Kingston, delivering a Junior Achievement training course, entitled 'Our City'.

Velmore Lawrence, general manager of the FirstCaribbean International Building Society, said that "the course, geared towards enhancing students' learning of concepts and skills related to various professions and careers, saw the building society employees mentoring students over a five-week period in partnership with Junior Achievement Jamaica - a member of Junior Achievement Worldwide the world's largest non-profit organisation dedicated to giving young people hands-on experience in preparation for the world of work."

The team included Velmore Lawrence and Olive Subratie, Customer Care Officer at the Building Society - both members of the Operation Board of Junior Achievement Jamaica, and Mrs Yaneeke Gopaul-Gregory, Insurance Officer at the FirstCaribbean International Building Society.

Lawrence noted that "junior achievement programmes help to empower young people to own their economic success. The volunteer-delivered programmes foster work readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills, and use experimental learning to prepare young people for the real world by showing them how to generate wealth and effectively manage it, how to create jobs which make their communities robust, and ultimately, how to apply entrepreneurial thinking to the workplace."

The 'Our City' model used by the building society at St Francis introduced students to a range of concepts including business, communication, economic development, entrepreneurship and decision making, exposing students to the skills needed for specific careers and how businesses contribute to a city.