The nation’s youth are being encouraged to include vocational education with their chosen professions for greater employment prospects.

Senior Advisor at the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Robert Miller, said students at high schools and their parents should decide early on the subjects to be done, as it will “increase your chances of gaining employment when you leave high school, or complete tertiary education”.

Mr. Miller was delivering the keynote address at the recent school-leaving ceremony for the Tarrant Primary School, in St. Andrew.

He praised the institution for “distinguished performances in academics, as well as a range of co-curricular activities”.

The Senior Advisor said the school’s achievements in attaining top honours in the Jamaica Civil Service Association Essay Writing Competition; winning the Gold and Silver awards in dance, speech, music and drama in the Jamaica Cultural Development Commission (JCDC) festival competitions, and several other events for children, have positioned it as a results-oriented educational institution.

“This school has made a mark, and a significant contribution to the education sector during its 46 years of existence,” Mr. Miller said.

“The challenge for you going forward is to raise the performance of every student, to create a rising tide of academic excellence,” he told the gathering.

Meanwhile, Principal of the school, Thelma Porter, reported that the last Grade 4 Literacy Test saw the students attaining an 82 per cent result, coming from 49 per cent.

“We are grateful about our numeracy results as well.  We are now at 43 per cent,” she said, noting that the school had settled at 20 per cent and 30 per cent for decades.

Source: Jamaica Information Service