Moneague, St Ann — With the recent graduation of hundreds of students from the HEART Trust/NTA in the north-eastern region, the institution has reported that it has surpassed key enrolment and certification targets for the last intake period.

At the certification ceremony at the Moneague College, Winston Fletcher, director of the Employment and Career Services department, said that the 400 students who participated in the ceremony represented over 1,000 who were certified in business administration, accounting, early childhood education, general construction, plumbing, geriatric care, food and beverage, commercial food preparation, electrical installation, customer service, housekeeping, front office, furniture making, welding, interior decorating, business management, data operations and web page design over the period, and called it “hope for a great future”.

Twenty professional chefs were also certified through partnership with the Culiniary Institute of America.

Dr Janet Dyer reported that the HEART College of Hospitality in Runaway Bay, St Ann, did better than the enrolment target by 25 per cent and the certification target by 104 per cent. In a video report she stated that it was a successful year for the institution.

It was a similar report from Tracey-Ann Watson of the Business Development and Workforce Solutions Department, which surpassed its enrolment target by six per cent and its certification target by 53 per cent. Beechamville Vocational Training Centre in Claremont, St Ann, and the Buff Bay Vocational Training Centre in Portland also reported that the targets for enrolment and certification were exceeded.

Over 7,500 applicants were reported enrolled in HEART Trust institutions across the region at the last intake of students.

Job placement targets by the Employment and Career Services was also exceeded by six per cent.

In the meantime, Dr Wayne Wesley, executive director of the HEART Trust/NTA, said that there should be greater access to training if people are to take advantage of the opportunities coming to Jamaica through investments.

“I don’t like to think that Jamaicans are not prepared to take advantage of opportunities,” he said. “For us to move from poverty to prosperity, the human capital must be prepared.”

He said that in its bid to increase training and prepare people for various opportunities, the HEART Trust/NTA is partnering with organisations such as the Caribbean Maritime Institute.