KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — The Government has mandated the HEART Trust /NTA to expand its Community Training Interventions (CTI) programme to more areas across the island so that unattached youth can obtain skills.

Addressing the organisation’s Community Training Interventions and Special Programmes symposium and awards Ceremony, State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green said young people, who are not going for training, must be reached.

“It was always envisioned that HEART would go to the people, meet them where they congregate, and get them into programmes, so that they can be productive,” Green said.

The awards ceremony was held on Friday at the Jamaica Conference Centre, in downtown Kingston.

The state minister also mentioned that the HEART Trust should place emphasis on young persons in rural communities, as many leave for the urban areas and end up in illegal activities.

“So there is a need to focus more on rural development using HEART to move our rural young people forward,” Green said.

For his part, Executive Director of the HEART Trust/NTA Dr Wayne Wesley said the instructors and coordinators of the CTI play a vital role in ensuring the agency’s programmes and training reach all those who might not have had the opportunity to “walk directly into one of our institutions”.

“Apart from widening the access to our programmes, through our vast island wide network of community interventions, we take deliberate steps to ensure that the quality of the programmes is maintained at the highest level,” Dr Wesley told the audience.

The event was held to motivate, inspire and recognise CTI coordinators and instructors who have demonstrated excellence in their fields, and to identify regional projects that exemplify excellence.