HEART/NSTA Trust to spearhead of series activities for Youth Month

The HEART/NSTA Trust will be spearheading a series of activities for Youth Month, being observed throughout November.

Managing Director Dr Taneisha Ingleton provided details during Wednesday’s post-Cabinet press briefing at Jamaica House.

The Trust will be mobilising teams to target youths ‘Pon Di Corna’ across Jamaica for career counselling and recruitment.

Dr Ingleton explained that the aim is to meet the youths where they are and engage them in meaningful activities, so that they do not become unattached.

“We also have a series called ‘Build a Business’. We recognise that our young people today have entrepreneurial minds and we want to nurture that. So we will be seeking to expose young persons to basic principles of wealth creation and enterprise development. We want them to know, from a very early stage, what it is like to build a business, to own a business and to pay taxes,” she explained.

Headlines Delivered to Your Inbox

Sign up for The Gleaner’s morning and evening newsletters.

Another activity for Youth Month is ‘Skills Swap’, which will see trainees swap their skills for a day. The aim is to showcase that there are no gender restrictions in skills.

The swap will be done with male and female trainees from HEART College of Beauty Services and HEART College of Construction Services, for an immersive and hands-on journey into fields traditionally dominated by the opposite gender.

“This activity will be filmed and shared via social media for greater youth interaction,” Dr Ingleton said.

Regarding the ‘Think Ink ’tournament, Dr Ingleton said it will be conducted in collaboration with Writing Clouds Incorporated.

Participants will be tasked with writing essays focused on mental health, under the theme, ‘Raising Awareness and Advocating for Mental Wellness Resources and Support Systems for Trainees’.

Among the other programmed activities for Youth Month are a leadership and development Seminar, an Agri Open Day at Ebony Park Academy in Clarendon, as well as a Youth Advancement Through Parenting Education Workshop.

“Parents are critical. We have to help them to see how important it is to allow their children to take the path that they want to take, and not to be encumbered by traditional approaches,” Dr Ingleton said.

The Youth Month initiatives will target Jamaicans, aged 17 to 29, with a goal of engaging them in innovative and creative forums that will provide a platform for them to express their talents, skills, thoughts and opinions, while exploring ways to contribute to national development.

- JIS