MONTEGO BAY, St James — Acknowledging the challenge some students face in landing jobs locally after studying abroad, Member of Parliament for St James East Central and Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett is urging those eyeing overseas education to be careful when selecting a learning institution. His comments came within the context of government scholarships being used to access some of these overseas studies.

“We do have complaints that the recognition of some of these graduates from some of the institutions overseas have put them in a position where, after all the study, they come back and have no jobs. Because they are graduating from institutions that either lack the full accreditation or there is some difference in terms of the education standards here versus there; and it makes it difficult for them to fit in,” Bartlett said.

“I urge the parents who come to us from time to time to solicit support for their children into tertiary institutions to take good note of these international colleges — and even universities that you’re sending your children to — so that when they graduate properly from these places, the certificates have accreditation that is acceptable anywhere in the world that they go — and certainly in Jamaica, where they have to come back and to work,” he added.

Bartlett’s comments came during the presentation of 14 of 20 tablets, donated by the Universal Access Fund, to students from his constituency at a ceremony at the Montego Bay Convention Centre last Friday.

For more than three decades the MP has run an education programme in his St James constituency, providing assistance for students from primary to tertiary level. He has ambitions to incorporate into the local health sector scholarship recipients from his education programme who have “graduated from China in the health programme”.

“We have to do some work on that. I’ve been talking to the Minister of Health [Dr Christopher Tufton] about how to enable some of those graduates to become more integrated in the health programme here,” Bartlett said.

He pointed out that his education programme, which provides an average of $10 million in support to students annually, now boasts scholars in every high school in St James and several across Jamaica.

“We have scholars at every community college, every teachers’ college, and universities in Jamaica. On average, every year we graduate 50 students from tertiary institutions. I, just a few days ago, got a number of them sending me their beautiful graduation pictures from UTech [University of Technology], from UWI [The University of the West Indies], from even as far afield as China,” the MP said.

“We have been able, in the process, to bring back into the constituency a number of teachers who have passed through our programme,” he added.

Bartlett urged other scholars to take inspiration from the achievements.

“I wanted to say that to you students who are here so that you see where your horizons can go and how far you can reach as you continue to apply yourself and to learn and study and then to convert that knowledge into meaningful and practical things. Knowledge is of no value to you unless it can be converted into material goods and services and can add value to your life and the lives of others around you,” said Bartlett.

Turning to the reason for the gathering at which he was speaking, he reminded the 14 tablet recipients to use the devices strictly for educational purposes and not let relatives use them for undesirable actions.

“I want you to listen because some people use it for other purpose. Some of them are your big brothers, and some of them are your big cousins, and some is a big sister, and some of them are your parents too. They use it for other purpose that is not so good. I want you to bear in mind today that the tablets that we’re giving to you are to be used exclusively for educational purposes. I want that to sink in,” he urged.

“The purpose of giving you these tablets today is not for you to have another toy or another means of getting to YouTube and to get into TikTok and X. It’s a means of garnering information, data that you now must use to strengthen your own ability to understand better the community in which you live. That’s the purpose of education, in the final analysis,” Bartlett stressed.

St James East Central Member of Parliament Edmund Bartlett (back row, centre) and Councillor Anthony Murray (right, Jamaica Labour Party; Rose Hall Division) with some students who received tablets donated by the Universal Access Fund during a handover ceremony at the Montego Bay Convention Centre last Friday.