PRIME Minister P J Patterson wants the private sector to become involved in the 18 month-old Jamaica Values and Attitudes for Tertiary Institutions (JAMVAT) project, stating that it has been a resounding success to date.

He was speaking at a ceremony on Thursday at the Jamaica Conference Centre in Kingston to recognise last year’s participants and to sign a $5-million contract between the National Youth Service (NYS) and the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF) for the 2003 phase.

The prime minister said that participants had learned from the programme, life lessons such as respect for others, time management, discipline, teamwork, tolerance and a sense of responsibility.

“JAMVAT is indeed a meaningful project which can achieve the desired incomes and outcomes and has far exceeded our optimistic expectations. It is my hope that these students, having served, will now set about recruiting others and promoting appropriate values and attitudes wherever they go — in the home, on the job and in their respective communities,” said Patterson.

The JAMVAT project, implemented through the National Youth Service (NYS), serves the dual function of providing financial assistance to needy tertiary level students while helping to promote a culture of service and nation building. Under the programme, 2,500 students enrolled in 18 tertiary institutions islandwide are required to complete 200 hours of community service for the academic year. During their period of service, students are paid a small stipend of $50 per hour to defray incidental costs, and after completing the hours, the government pays 30 per cent of the student’s tuition costs for that year.

Last year, 780 students from the nation’s three universities, nine teachers? colleges, five community colleges and the Edna Manley College of the Visual and Performing Arts participated, many of whom exceeded the required 200 hours at their own expense.

Nicola Shakes, a third year primary education student at the Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College in Montego Bay, is one such student. Working at the Ashton All-Age School, the Savanna-la-Mar Police Station and her college’s library, Shakes totalled more than 400 hours of service, she says, as a statement of her appreciation for the benefits she has accrued.

“For me, it was really difficult to find the money for college all by myself. I had money saved, but that all got used up within my first year because I had to travel to school. At first I worked because I needed the assistance, but I’ve way exceeded the allotted hours, mainly because if it were not for this programme, I, like many other people who went to college before the project came in, probably would have had to drop out,” she said.

Aisha Lawrence, a history and science major at Church Teacher’s College in Mandeville, expressed similar sentiments.

“I didn’t think the 200 hours was a whole lot, especially when you think about what we get in exchange– tuition partly paid, the stipend and work experience — all that helped me as an individual become a better person,” Lawrence told the Observer.

Principal of the Sam Sharpe Teachers’ College, Cecile Walden, agreed with the ethos of the programme, particularly, she says, because it inculcated a desire to serve within the students.

“I think it’s a wonderful opportunity for them to give while they are getting. The closeness of the teaching profession to service allows them to understand both parents and students and so it is a fillip for the teaching profession too,” said Walden.