IN expressing concern that over 22,000 of the school leaving cohort this year have left without any sort of formal certification, Education Minister Ronald Twaithes last week welcomed a new initiative launched by the Jamaican Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL), which will see these individuals being equipped with a High School Diploma Equivalency (HSDE) that will be accepted as a secondary certification locally.

The HSDE is expected to equip recent school leavers and adults without the traditional qualifications such as CXCs, with the certification necessary to matriculate into tertiary institutions or get a job. In order to get the HSDE certificate, these individuals would need to complete courses in critical subject areas such as English Language, mathematics, science and technology and health and family life. These courses will be offered at 29 adult education centres (AECs) islandwide.

The initiative was fully endorsed by Thwaites as the second chance needed by many Jamaicans to certify themselves so that they can work and achieve their full potential. He said it was time the country addressed the issue of educational underachievement.

“None of us have the hope of survival in this world if we do not have the opportunity to catch up and recover from our mistakes,” he said.

“It is the responsibility of the nation through the Ministry of Education and through all the schools to ensure that at the same time as this is taking place, we are stopping the leakage of more and more students into the ranks of the illiterate and semi-literate and then hoping that institutions like JFLL and HEART will pick them up,” he said.

Chairman of the JFLL Audrey Hinchcliffe said apart from the education ministry, other partners for this initiative will include the Caribbean Examination Council, E-Learning Jamaica, the Jamaica Library Service and the HEART Trust/NTA. She said the initiative is the organisation’s flagship project and is part of the JFLL’s efforts to rebrand itself as a viable option especially for those wishing to further their education to the secondary level.

“The emphasis on lifelong learning is intended to banish the ‘out school’ mentality that has been a part of our national psyche for decades. Through the programmes offered by JFLL, we want instead for our people to embrace the notion that if we are to keep pace with a rapidly changing world, learning must be continuous, and no one has to be left behind because they lack the fundamentals on which to build a career or improve their prospects for a better life,” she said.

She said the country stands to benefit from having a more educated population as individuals would be better equipped to take responsibility for their own lives and contribute to the social, moral and economic development of the society. She asserted that the HSDE is also in keeping with the government’s thrust to improve the human capital of the country in accordance with Vision 2030.

Senior director of workforce development and employment at the Heart Trust/NTA Denworth Finnikin was also in full support of the HSDE and was optimistic that it would impact on workforce productivity which is key to the country’s survival.

“We can’t continue to lag behind some of our Caribbean neighbours as it relates to productivity,” said the senior director, who also pointed to the fact that a number of people who apply to HEART Trust tend to be below the grade nine level.