By Astha Prendergast
Copyright jis
Managing Director of the HEART/NSTA Trust, Dr. Taneisha Ingleton, is encouraging parents and guardians not to discourage their children from pursuing technical and vocational education and training (TVET) over traditional careers.
She emphasised that careers in skills-based sectors are just as lucrative as traditional paths.
Dr. Ingleton was speaking at a joint meeting of the Rotary Clubs of St. Andrew North & Downtown Kingston, at the Jamaica National (JN) Conference Suites in Kingston, on September 22.
“It is a false dichotomy when [persons] indicate that one path is better than the other. It is a complementary path,” she insisted.
The Managing Director shared an anecdote of a high school student who was interested in wig making and makeup and was discouraged by her parents from pursuing her interest, because they did not see the value in the sector.
She pointed out that the beauty industry is a multi-trillion-dollar business and persons working in the industry are doing well.
Dr. Ingleton said TVET must be properly incorporated in the education sector and not be seen as secondary.
“It has to be infused in primary, it has to become explicit in secondary, and in tertiary, you need to be doing PhDs in all of these things,” she emphasised.
Dr. Ingleton argued that with the rapid pace of technological advancement, parents must remain open-minded as “there are going to be jobs that our children will be doing that we do not yet know the names of.”
She pointed out that TVET industries are seeing massive growth and that Jamaica is poised to benefit.
“The robotics industry [is] projected to grow to US$74.1 billion by 2026. You want to have these skills to cash in, and that is how we have to sell it… Optoelectronics is projected to grow to US$52.7 billion [by 2025] … It’s already there, and that’s why we’re offering optoelectronics. Then we have the mechatronics projected to grow by US$28.83 billion, and the geomatics and geospatial industry to grow from US$67.4 billion to US$11.9 billion… and that is why we offer those things at the HEART/NSTA Trust,” Dr. Ingleton affirmed.
She outlined that globally, 60 per cent of jobs will require TVET skills by 2030, emphasising that the narrative that TVET is less than must be done away with.
Dr. Ingleton encouraged parents to “let your child’s passion shine through. Let them do what they want to do. Do not box them into a traditional path.”
