ADMINISTRATORS for the Jamaica Values and Attitudes (JAMVAT) programme will next year begin offering the values tutorials, the main thrust of the programme, through different means.

According to JAMVAT co-ordinator, Captain Paul Barrett, it has been proposed that a combination of a journal/task book and instructional videos and/or CDs be delivered to the JAMVAT participants at their respective institutions. The students must then complete their journal/task book and 200 hours of service to receive their JAMVAT certificate.

Barrett said the workshops were put on hold this year due to budgetary constraints and overwhelming logistical problems in scheduling the workshops to match the available hours of participants from the 20 institutions involved and their presenters.

“The new approach would eliminate the logistical problems and have a wider impact. The sessions could be delivered at the respective institutions thereby having a more deliberate and timely approach,” said Barrett, an ex-army officer who took over the management of the programme in 2003.

The JAMVAT programme, which is managed by the National Youth Service, was launched by Prime Minister P J Patterson in 2001 to give 4,000 needy tertiary students the triple benefits of job experience, part funding for their tertiary studies and valuable life lessons to help develop good character that would aid community and nation building.

The JAMVAT work /study participants were expected to give 200 hours of public service in selected government, private sector or community-based organisations, and participate in positive development workshops. In return, they get a stipend of up to $10,000 to compensate for meal and transportation costs, in addition to a government subvention of 30 per cent of a year’s tuition.

But less than 1,000 students applied in each of the first two years of the programme. In fact, up until last year only 2611 participants were approved, and of that number 1,844 or roughly 70% have completed the 200 hours. This year, 989 persons have been approved so far.

Barrett said the workshops were an important part of the programme, reinforcing such values as self reliance and self respect; respect for others and for authority; work ethics; responsibility and accountability; time management; and conflict resolution.

Only 10 workshops of two sessions each were held for the first time last year, due to the budgetary and logistics problems. Those workshops were held at five locations islandwide and included 250 students from all tertiary institutions.

Each workshop carried two sessions, but according to Barrett, of the 250 students, 200 attended at least one session and only half of that number attended both sessions.

“For the persons who attended, some were late and some left early. Students who had a supervisor from the institution in attendance had a more disciplined approach,” he said.

The new videos and CDs should be in use in 2005, when the tutorial component of JAMVAT will resume. Students would be required to view and understand the videos, perform the instructions and log their day to day experiences, goals and achievements in a personal journal. The completed journal would then be handed over to their respective institution or the nearest NYS office in exchange for a JAMVAT certificate.

“At the end of the day, the completion of the journal will be one of the most practical methods to impact aspects of the core values of the JAMVAT project,” Barrett said.

“It will also be an effective means by which an assessment can be made of the student’s performance, work standards, experiences of the working world, his personal goals and achievements, his neatness and his adherence to directives,” he added.