KINGSTON, Jamaica — Young people in urban and rural communities across the island are to benefit from training and work experience facilitated under three memoranda of understanding (MoUs) signed by the Council of Community Colleges of Jamaica (CCCJ) and three private sector entities.

Aimed at strengthening opportunities for employment the MoUs were signed between the CCCJ and Jamaica Producers Group, Bureau of Standards Jamaica and GraceKennedy Limited on Thursday (August15) at the Terra Nova Hotel in St Andrew.

The initiative is part of the Advance Programme funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

Under the programme, community colleges will benefit from support to offer two-to-three-year technical degree programmes to disadvantaged youth as a viable path towards employment.

Areas of training include agri-business, the creative industries, and health and wellness and tourism.

Minister without Portfolio in the Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Pearnel Charles Jr, in welcoming the collaboration among the partners noted that the opportunities presented by the signing will not only enable numerous disadvantaged Jamaican youth to access higher education but also training in the workplace.

 “The signing of the MoUs really represents the strategic collaboration between all of the stakeholders. From here, what (the community colleges) are supposed to be doing is going through the interviews based on those students, who have applied to identify persons who are going to be selected to advance towards the associates and bachelors [degree] programmes that they are offering in the specific categories,” he said.

The Advantage Programme is also benefiting young people in Honduras and Guatemala.