JIS: Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Audrey Sewell, has been recognised for her contribution to the implementation and development of the Career Advancement Programme (CAP).
CAP is the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information’s flagship youth education programme, which provides students aged 16 to 18 with the valuable training and skills needed for the job market or to further their education.
Mrs. Sewell was actively involved in CAP’s implementation eight years ago when she served as Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education.
“I’m very pleased and honoured to have been recognised,” Mrs. Sewell told JIS News after she was presented with an award at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information/CAP special awards luncheon held on February 12 at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.
“You go out and you’re doing service for your fellow citizens and your country. It’s not something that you think about in terms of recognition. You do it because of the love and passion that you have to serve, and, today, to be awarded, I’m really, really proud and honoured,” she said.
“I thank those who thought about it and took the time to show the appreciation,” she added.
Mrs. Sewell, who is an educator, has taught at Denham Town Secondary School; Ardenne High School; Girl’s Town Jamaica; and HEART Trust/NTA, where she later became Director of Academics.
She also lectured and served as an external examiner in the Department of Management Studies at the University of the West Indies (UWI) and the University College of the Caribbean. She was Principal/Director of the Justice Ministry’s Justice Training Institute between 2004 and 2008.
Meanwhile, awards were presented for top-performing students for mathematics and English at City & Guilds; top-performing student in the National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQ-J)/Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) examinations; Jamaica Foundation for Lifelong Learning (JFLL) award for top-performing CAP general teacher and student; and regional coordinators of the Year.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Dean-Roy Bernard, congratulated Mrs. Sewell and the students and teachers who were recognised.
“We are quite pleased that since January 2010, when CAP was introduced by the then Minister of Education, Hon. Andrew Holness, now Prime Minister, thousands of Jamaicans have been able to continue their studies and to pursue their desired career paths,” he added.
More than 63,755 students have been enrolled in CAP.
In addition to job-ready training, the programme also provides exposure to life-coping skills, personal development, civics, personal and national values, and the tenets of good citizenship.
CAP is offered at selected secondary schools, private skills-development centres, and private and public tertiary institutions across the island.
CAPTION: Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Prime Minister, Audrey Sewell, is presented with a citation from Director, Career Advancement Programme (CAP), Meloney Rhynie at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information/CAP special awards luncheon held at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston on Monday, February 12.