Subscribe Login
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
Jamaica Observer
ePaper
The Edge 105 FM Radio Fyah 105 FM
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
    • Home
    • News
      • Latest News
      • Cartoon
      • International News
      • Central
      • North & East
      • Western
      • Environment
      • Health
      • #
    • Business
      • Business Bites
      • Social Love
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Basketball
      • Cricket
      • Horse Racing
      • World Champs
      • Commonwealth Games
      • FIFA World Cup
      • Olympics
      • #
    • Videos
    • Entertainment
      • Music
      • Movies
      • Art & Culture
      • Bookends
      • #
    • Lifestyle
      • Page2
      • Food
      • Tuesday Style
      • Food Awards
      • JOL Takes Style Out
      • Design Week JA
      • Black Friday
      • #
    • All Woman
      • Home
      • Relationships
      • Features
      • Fashion
      • Fitness
      • Rights
      • Parenting
      • Advice
      • #
    • Obits
    • Classifieds
      • Employment
      • Property
      • Motor Vehicles
      • Place an Ad
      • Obituaries
    • More
      • Games
      • Elections
      • Jobs & Careers
      • Study Centre
      • Jnr Study Centre
      • Letters
      • Columns
      • Advertorial
      • Editorial
      • Supplements
      • Webinars
  • Home
  • News
    • International News
  • Latest
  • Business
    • Business Bites
  • Cartoon
  • Games
  • Food Awards
  • Health
  • Entertainment
    • Bookends
  • Regional
  • Sports
    • Sports
    • World Cup
    • World Champs
    • Olympics
  • Videos
  • Career & Education
  • Classifieds
  • All Woman
  • Environment
  • Webinars
  • More
    • Football
    • Elections
    • Letters
    • Advertorial
    • Columns
    • Editorial
    • Supplements
  • Epaper
  • Design Week
An employer’s dream
Education Minister Ronald Thwaites greets Trench Town Polytechnic College students, from second left, Sasha Barnes, Tosshell Small, and Shushanna McKoy,during the institution’s official opening ceremony on November 17. (PHOTO: JIS)
News
BY ROCHELLE WILLIAMS  
November 28, 2015

An employer’s dream

Trench Town Polytechnic College providing training for jobs in demand

THE recently established Trench Town Polytechnic College (TTPC) has commenced training its first cohort of 381 students in a range of technical and vocational skills.

Principal Dosseth Edwards-Watson, tells JIS News that the institution, located at Eighth Street in the St Andrew community, is focussed on preparing young people in areas that are in high demand in the labour market.

The TTPC, which started classes on October 5, offers pre-college programmes through partnerships with the HEART Trust/NTA, Caribbean Maritime Institute (CMI) and the Jamaican-German Automotive School (JAGAS).

These include data operation, auto body repair, customer service, maritime studies, port operations and logistics. The college also offers core courses in mathematics, English language, accounts and information technology.

An entrepreneurship course to assist in career development is also offered. “We are training persons that the workplace will demand,” Edwards-Watson says, adding that the curriculum is designed to give students a holistic education that will allow them to have a competitive advantage.

“The thinking behind all of this is that companies can no longer employ seven persons to do seven jobs, so essentially [the students] are going to be taught a number of different skill sets so that when the company hires this one person, he/she will be able to offer skills in many different areas,” she points out.

Edwards-Watson tells JIS News that plans are being put in place to offer specialised courses based on the specific needs of the various industries.

“We intend to offer

bespoke programmes… so, if a company needs a particular set of workers to be trained in a particular skill area, we will go into the company and assess those needs and then try to provide the courses and the training programmes and personnel for those businesses,” she says.

Young people from various communities in south St Andrew, Gordon Town, Portmore and Harbour View, are being trained at the institution, located at the site of the former Trench Town High School, which was merged with Charlie Smith High in September this year.

Under the direction of the Ministry of Education, the students of Trench Town High were transferred to the neighbouring Charlie Smith High to accommodate the TTPC.

The Ministry of Education has collaborated with the Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing to renovate the building.

The Ministry of Education has pledged $25.59 million for the renovation with the Transport Ministry providing skilled workers to carry out the refurbishing.

Already, the classrooms have been painted, and the engineering and hospitality labs will be retrofitted to ensure that the technical subjects are supported by modern technologies and resources for practical application.

Watson-Edwards says that the HEART/Trust NTA will be providing a portion of the funding to furnish these labs.

“We want to ensure that as a polytechnic, we have the resources to support our programmes. A lot of technology is involved in those skill (areas). If we want to remain at the cutting edge of technology and on the cutting edge of industry, we have to get those tools that will equip our students,” she points out.

The TTPC is looking to establish its presence in the landscape of community colleges across the island.

The Ministry of Education has submitted an application to Cabinet for the institution to be fully registered as a community college.

Edwards-Watson tells JIS News that following Cabinet’s approval, prospective students will have to meet the matriculation requirements of the Council of Community Colleges of Jamaica (CCCJ).

The minimum entry requirements stipulated

by the CCCJ are five

Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate /General Certificate of Education subjects inclusive of Mathematics and English or a technical subject.

Edwards-Watson says the college is also seeking to partner with other institutions to offer a variety of technical subjects.

“We want to forge partnerships with some polytechnics elsewhere to see to what extent we can have some exchange programmes to have a (mutually beneficial) exchange of resources… essentially what we want to do is to pull on those programmes that are in demand by industry to offer to our students,” she says.

“If (the programmes) are out there and they are accredited and that’s what the industry needs, then certainly, we will move towards offering those,” she adds.

{"website":"website"}{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
img img
0 Comments · Make a comment

ALSO ON JAMAICA OBSERVER

Australia races to shield little penguins from H5N1 bird flu
International News, Latest News
Australia races to shield little penguins from H5N1 bird flu
August 19, 2026
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Australian wildlife workers have launched an unprecedented effort to vaccinate wild populations of little penguins against t...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Morris Dixon lauds students’ CAPE, CSEC performances despite Melissa
Latest News, News
Morris Dixon lauds students’ CAPE, CSEC performances despite Melissa
August 19, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica – The Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information says it is pleased with the country’s outstanding preliminary results for...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Latest News, News
TEF, UTech sign tourism agreement
August 19, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Tourism Enhancement Fund (TEF) and the University of Technology (UTech) Jamaica have signed an agreement for business service ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
OAS chief urges Haiti to speed up election preparations
International News, Latest News, Regional
OAS chief urges Haiti to speed up election preparations
August 19, 2026
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AFP) — The head of the Organization of American States (OAS) urged Haitian authorities on Wednesday to speed up voter registrat...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Gas prices up $1.43, $.25, diesel up $4.50
Latest News, News
Gas prices up $1.43, $.25, diesel up $4.50
August 19, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica — Motorists should see an increase at the pumps in the price of gasoline effective Thursday, August 20, according to the latest ex-r...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Jamaica lists 60 public beaches with free access
Latest News, News
Jamaica lists 60 public beaches with free access
August 19, 2026
The Jamaican government has listed 60 beaches across the island that it says provides free access to the public. It comes against the background of cl...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Courts, ministries threatened as Trinidad investigates slew of bomb threats
International News, Latest News, Regional
Courts, ministries threatened as Trinidad investigates slew of bomb threats
August 19, 2026
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) –  The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) Wednesday confirmed that there had been at least seven reports of bomb ...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
Forex: $159.41 to one US dollar
Latest News, News
Forex: $159.41 to one US dollar
August 19, 2026
KINGSTON, Jamaica—The United States (US) dollar on Wednesday, August 19, ended trading at $159.41, up by one cent, according to Bank of Jamaica’s dail...
{"jamaica-observer":"Jamaica Observer"}
❮ ❯

Polls

HOUSE RULES

  1. We welcome reader comments on the top stories of the day. Some comments may be republished on the website or in the newspaper; email addresses will not be published.
  2. Please understand that comments are moderated and it is not always possible to publish all that have been submitted. We will, however, try to publish comments that are representative of all received.
  3. We ask that comments are civil and free of libellous or hateful material. Also please stick to the topic under discussion.
  4. Please do not write in block capitals since this makes your comment hard to read.
  5. Please don't use the comments to advertise. However, our advertising department can be more than accommodating if emailed: advertising@jamaicaobserver.com.
  6. If readers wish to report offensive comments, suggest a correction or share a story then please email: community@jamaicaobserver.com.
  7. Lastly, read our Terms and Conditions and Privacy Policy

Recent Posts

Archives

Facebook
Twitter
Instagram
Tweets

Polls

Recent Posts

Archives

Logo Jamaica Observer
Breaking news from the premier Jamaican newspaper, the Jamaica Observer. Follow Jamaican news online for free and stay informed on what's happening in the Caribbean
Featured Tags
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Health
  • Auto
  • Business
  • Letters
  • Page2
  • Football
Categories
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
  • Business
  • Politics
  • Entertainment
  • Page2
Ads
img
Jamaica Observer, © All Rights Reserved
  • Home
  • Contact Us
  • RSS Feeds
  • Feedback
  • Privacy Policy
  • Editorial Code of Conduct