Minister of State in the Ministry of Education and Youth, Hon. Marsha Smith is encouraging students to seek higher education and to take advantage of the opportunities afforded to them.
Ms. Smith was speaking at a Tertiary Recruitment Drive held at the Manchester High School in Mandeville, on April 19.
Some 20 tertiary institutions, the Students’ Loan Bureau, as well as the Council of Community Colleges in Jamaica, participated in the event.
“Tertiary education enables individuals to realize their fullest potential and contribute meaningfully to society. The recruitment drive is in alignment with the recommendation of the Jamaica Education Transformation Commission and is an initiative that seeks to address the issue of low enrolment across public higher education institutions,” she stated.
The recruitment drive is aimed at exposing students to the diverse programme offerings available at various higher education institutions.
Ms. Smith said the tertiary unit within the Ministry, has collaborated with higher education institutions to showcase their various available offerings, to grades 11 to 13 students.
“The tertiary unit is an integral part of the ministry and is pivotal to ensuring access to high quality tertiary education. This is done through supervision and support, financial assistance, scholarships, teacher exchange programmes and more,” the State Minister said.
Meanwhile, Transcript Officer at the G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sports, Raymond Bogle, said the aim at the drive, was to enrol students for the upcoming academic year.
“Our full-time enrolment is over 400 students, and we turn out in the 50s in the bachelor’s programme annually, so we are trying to increase enrolment,” Bogle said.
Lecturer at the Knox Community College, Bobsie Levy said the institution’s participation in the event was directed at promoting the various programmes available at the school.
“We have a host of programmes available in 10 departments including Business, Environment Studies, Liberal Studies, Engineering, Hospitality and Tourism Management, Information and Communication Technology, Nursing and many more,” she said.
For Lecturer in Language Arts and marketing and communication expert at the Shortwood Teachers’ College, Dr. Janet Williams, the purpose was to attract students to the school.
“We are hoping to get students for the 2024-25 academic year, as well as those who want to be part-time students in our bachelor’s degree programmes. We have a lot of programmes,” she said.
Some of the participating institutions included Montego Bay Community College, Trench Town Polytechnic, Brown’s Town Community College, Mico Teachers’ College, Moneague Teachers’ College, the College of Arts, Science and Education, Vocational Training Development Institute, Knox Community College, EXED Community College, Edna Manley College for the Visual and Performing Arts, G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sports, University of Technology and Church Teachers’ College.