KINGSTON, Jamaica – Education, Skills, Youth and Information Minister, Senator Dana Morris Dixon, has charged the St Jago High School 2025 graduating class to leverage technologies to solve complex problems and create new products and services.

She noted that the technological revolution is being driven by rapid advancements in fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, and the Internet of Things (IoT), creating new opportunities for innovation, entrepreneurship, and social impact.

“The world you are stepping into is rapidly changing. There are new technologies, new industries and new ways of connecting,” she said, challenging the graduates to embrace the technological advancements to make a meaningful impact on society.

Morris Dixon was addressing the 2025 Valedictory Service at the institution’s St Catherine campus on Wednesday.

The education minister noted that the Government, through the HEART/NSTA Trust, is equipping students with the skills required for the jobs of the future.

She cited the establishment of a national AI laboratory at the University of Technology (UTech). The facility will serve as a national resource hub for training, research and the development of AI-based curricula.

Young people looking to start technology-related businesses are also being empowered.

As of April 2025, HEART/NSTA Trust graduates in level-four science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM)-related courses, are eligible for a grant of up to $300,000 to purchase specialised tools or software to kick-start their businesses.

The grants are provided under the Building Opportunities for Outstanding STEM Talent (BOOST) programme.

“We have decided that anyone that goes into a STEM-related programme and gets to level four we give them a grant of $300,000 to do what they need to do because we really believe that there is a future in STEM, there is a future in technology and you have to be there,” Morris Dixon said.

“Whatever you are doing, the technology is going to be important, and you don’t want to just consume the technology, you want to produce the technology and be at the front of creating that technology,” she noted.

Morris Dixon hailed the St Jago High School 2025 graduating class for completing an important milestone and urged them to maintain the values and principles that have brought them to their current point.

“The values that have taken you this far – integrity, discipline, empathy and excellence – must remain with you,” she said.

–         JIS