KINGSTON, Jamaica–Minister of Labour and Social Security Pearnel Charles Jr has lauded senior citizens enrolling in the GetConnected Digital Literacy Course as inspirations for other individuals in their age group.

He was speaking on Thursday during a visit to the National Council for Senior Citizens (NCSC) in Kingston where the course is taught twice weekly to 40 people who are over 50 years old.

“I simply want to say thank you. Because I know that you are here to further your own access and integrate yourself with more knowledge. But you are serving as an inspiration to many others who are just scared to start, to step out. I know that some of you were also scared, but you have gotten over it, at least to the point where you are here,” Charles said.

“Each and every one of you [is] going to be an example to some other older adult who, for whatever reason, doesn’t think they can do it, who has told themselves, ‘well, I’m too old for that’. You are going to show them that you’re never too old and that, in an evolving society, you are critical,” he added.

The course, which is slated to run between six and 12 weeks, is being facilitated by HEART/NSTA Trust and taught by instructors from the Stony Hill campus.

It is a continuation of the programme, which saw 37 senior citizens in Montego Bay, St James, being certified as digitally literate in September 2024.

Using his experience with his father, Minister Charles emphasised the importance of improving senior citizens’ knowledge of the digital realm, pointing out that it will aid in maintaining the nation’s productivity.

“My father is 89 this year and I want to tell you he is on track. When he gets a new device, he’s asking me all types of questions about it. He’s engaged and he likes it, and it keeps him very, very, very active,” the minister said.

“So this, to me, is a critical piece of what we need going forward for the country. People are living longer, and less babies are being born, and so the whole productivity of our seniors is critical to the national productivity. We are now looking on global trends that make it clear of how critical active aging will be, not just to you as an individual, but to the nation collectively,” Charles maintained.

One participant, Isonia Marquis, who is in her 70s, told JIS News that since beginning the course in January, she already feels more confident interacting with the computer.

“I could use the keyboard. But to actually say that, well, this is RAM (Random Access Memory), then no, I didn’t know that. But here, we learned that there are ports, and each port has a different component, and it takes particular stuff. I am looking at the computer in a different way. I actually know how to access a computer and I am comfortable around it, in some aspects,” Marquis said.

She commented on how seniors can be used in the workplace, once they have completed the course and are certified computer proficient.

“Some of us, even though we’re at home, we’re still usable, we can still do things. If anybody out there wants to employ us doing little things, you know, even half a day on the computer, we can do stuff for you,” Marquis said, adding that she was employed at the then Jamaica Telephone Company, and even freelanced as an administrative assistant before retirement.

Regional director, Region 1, HEART/NSTA Trust, Sasha Shim-Hue, disclosed on Thursday that the GetConnected Digital Literacy Course will next be implemented in Clarendon when the programme ends in March for Kingston.

Additionally, Shim-Hue said the programme will be replicated in other parishes.

-JIS