Govt plan to uplift citizens

SCIENCE, Technology and Tertiary Education Minister Colm Imbert expressed optimism that a new plan being developed by his Ministry to upgrade the levels of skills taught to citizens and increase their access to higher education, will help to reduce the existing levels of frustration within the society and the related expressions of that frustration such as crime. Speaking at the PNM’s 48th Anniversary celebrations in Port-of-Spain two weeks ago, Prime Minister Patrick Manning said Imbert would be mandated to bring a plan to Cabinet  that would see citizens being taught the necessary skills to ensure that they could be gainfully employed.  The Minister told Newsday yesterday that there was a large pool of persons within the society today who are very frustrated because they do not have the skills to be gainfully employed or do not have access to the types of training that would teach them those skills.  He noted that within this pool were a large number of young people and some single mothers as well.

Imbert stated that the plan now being developed by his Ministry, will be based on models of training programmes successfully carried out in other countries to improve the skill levels of their citizens. He disclosed that some aspects of the new plan will include participation by State agencies in the training of individuals and the offering of “sandwich programmes” whereby the individual will work and study. The Minister added that all skills taught to individuals will be certified and provide “a platform” for them to move on to higher education. Imbert said a major benefit of the plan would be the provision of “an outlet,” for persons to channel their energies into productive endeavours that would redound both to their benefit and the nation’s. The Minister said he is currently trying to “flesh out” this plan and should be prepared to bring its first phase for Cabinet consideration within one month’s time. He hinted that one of the areas which this first phase will look at is upgrading the level of skills of persons in the construction sector and stressed the importance of a highly-skilled population in the context of the Caribbean Single Market and Economy which is scheduled to come onstream in 2005.

Last week, the Prime Minister met with the heads of corporations in the energy and banking sectors to discuss a new public-private sector micro-enterprise intiative for cultivating micro-entrepeneurs with a view to creating sustainable jobs and alleviating poverty for the unemployed. Manning also met last week with the team of several government ministries and agencies that is spearheading the Prime Minister’s Community Development Initiative and a statement from the Office of the Prime Minister said “it is expected that over 3,000 new sustainable jobs will be created through this Community Development Initiative.” This meeting followed Manning’s walkabouts in several depressed communities last month, in which he attempted to obtain first-hand information about citizens’ concerns. The Prime Minister’s walkabouts were criticised by Opposition MPs Manohar Ramsaran and Dr Roodal Moonilal.