Chairman of the Technical Working Committee, Career Advancement Programme (CAP), Dr. Cecil Cornwall, says the Government will be working to ensure the success of the initiative.

“The CAP has to work. Making sure of that certification is of paramount importance. Students must get the skills and be certified,” Dr. Cornwall emphasised.

He was speaking at the national student leaders’ luncheon, held at the Eden Gardens Wellness Resort and Spa on June 22.

The CAP, piloted in 11 schools in 2010, aims at ensuring that students leaving secondary schools are literate and numerate, and have some form of technical and vocational qualification for post-secondary study or work.

It seeks to stem the problem of youth being unattached, because of inadequate education and skills.

Since the introduction of the programme six years ago, approximately 48,301 students have been trained in technical and vocational skills as well as 5,622 through the General Programme of Literacy and Numeracy.

Dr. Cornwall pointed out that CAP has been expanded to include persons between 19 and 29 years of age.

For his part, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Hon. Floyd Green, said that the CAP is focused on providing opportunities for all students “to identify, understand, choose, and prepare for careers and occupations of their choices”.

“It will also serve to bring others of the youth programmes together in the various entities,” he added.

The CAP is currently being offered in 53 institutions, and starting September 2016 will be rolled out in all 63 plus secondary-level institutions.