The Flow Foundation recently graduated 450 students from its second cohort of the Skills for the Future Programme, delivering on its vision of providing more Jamaicans with the skills needed to thrive in a digital economy.

The Skills for The Future programme is a collaboration between the Flow Foundation and the Mona School of Business and Management (MSBM) through the Caribbean School of Data (CSOD).  It’s a 12-week programme that is free to the public and seeks to equip Jamaicans ages 16 to 60 years with skills in digital literacy and data management so they can compete in the growing digital environment.

The recent graduation now brings the total to almost 600 Jamaicans that have successfully completed the programme, many of whom are employing the skills they’ve learnt in their daily lives.

Kayon Mitchell, Executive Director of the Flow Foundation, commended the graduates for their commitment to improving themselves. The graduates included high school students as well as senior citizens, highlighting the wide relevance of the programme being offered.

“Digital inclusion is for everyone,” Mitchell stated. “We will not return to life as we knew it before the pandemic. We are living in a digital economy, so it is critical that as many Jamaicans as possible are empowered to not only participate in this space but to use the digital landscape to enable their progress.”

The partnership between the Flow Foundation and the CSOD came from the need for Jamaicans to develop competencies in navigating the digital space. This need was amplified at the onset of the pandemic and, according to Dr Maurice McNaughton, Project Lead and Director of the Centre for Excellence and Innovation at MSBM, a collaborative response was needed to ensure sustainable people development.

“This programme reflects our commitment to academic education but also to training and development and capacity building in our society,” noted Dr. McNaughton. “We believe this programme of digital capacity building is especially relevant and essential to national and regional sustainable development.”

During the virtual graduation ceremony, outstanding students were recognised for their performance and electronic certificates were issued for each student. Javaughn Douglas was both the top male performer and the top performing student overall. He completed the course with an average of 99.6% across all modules and end-of-course quizzes. Samantha Earle was the best performing female student with an average of 97.8% across the modules and end-of-course quizzes. Both top performing students were gifted a Samsung Tablet preloaded with 25GB of data.

Most improved male and female students were Jameil Johnson and Beverley Wynter respectively, while the Top Facilitator award went to Mrs. Kareen Fredankey with 75 per cent of her group completing the course.

In her keynote address, Stacey Hines, CEO of Epic Transformation and Immediate Past President of Jamaica Technological and Digital Alliance, encouraged the graduates to adopt the ABC’s of success in their pursuit of digital literacy competence.

“Active awareness, boundless belief and consistent creativity – I call these the ABCs to success,” Hines noted. “You all already have the skills you need to thrive in the digital age, and the pandemic has proven that, but you will also need a guide to get you to your goals,” Hines added.

The Skills for the Future Programme has a goal of training 4,000 Jamaicans in digital literacy and represents the commitment of the Flow Foundation to enable progress through digital inclusion. Graduates of the Skills for the Future Programme can further their education by applying for the Training for Professionals Programme, another educational platform offered by the Flow Foundation.