Hilary Robertson -Hickling
LAST WEEK in the aftermath of the demonstration at the hotel on the north coast I listened to a discussion between Mrs. Barbara Gloudon and Mr. Robert Gregory of HEART/NTA on air. The discussion confirmed that a significant part of our workforce is neither skilled nor certified and needs to become so, to survive in Jamaica and in other parts of the world. It had long been recognised that the building trades provided opportunities for the skilled and unskilled to find work but that there was a need for all persons to be upgrading themselves. It is important to remember that many Jamaicans are currently working overseas and that skilled workers from many other countries will be coming to Jamaica.
The situation will become even more acute with the CARICOM Single Market and the free movement of skilled labour in the first instance. I recently learned that in the current petrochemical industry boom, Trinidad and Tobago will be recruiting skilled persons in areas where there are skill shortages.
SKILL SHORTAGES
The building trade is just one example but what about all the other sectors where there are skill shortages. In the transport sector there are many drivers who have bought their licenses and seem to have limited levels of literacy. The findings of the PAHO study confirm observations of some of our drivers who overtake lines of traffic, overtake over solid lines and generally ignore the road code which they probably cannot read. I agree with a fellow columnist, Dr. Garth Rattray, that there have to be new policies about driver education and constant retesting to improve safety on the road. We need to find ways of removing corruption from this process.
For so long we have neglected vocational education, apprenticeships as well as other aspects of education that we are now reaping the fruits. A country like Germany has maintained its cutting edge by training its tradesmen to the highest levels, it has long established a technical university system and its technicians are highly trained. Corporate giants like Volkswagen have always trained an excess of apprentices to ensure that the country as well as its own enterprise has invested in and, therefore, is able to call upon a highly qualified work force.
We have seen the importance of skills on our road building works and understand that politics and extortion in our context means unskilled workmen enjoy patronage and building roads which require constant repair because they are incompetent. If, instead, these men could be trained they would receive the work because of their competence. The issue of competence is a serious one in Jamaica and discussions of performance-based pay for teachers and other groups of workers is overdue.
WE ARE RUNNING BEHIND
Continuous medical and nursing education, teacher education must become the norm and like in other professional and vocational areas, people must be held accountable and the rewards should be based on their performance. When people migrate they have to meet stringent legal requirements so we here in Jamaica are running behind the times. Barbers, beauticians and others must also be properly trained and certified. When we recognise that pioneering efforts of persons like Madame Rose Leon in cosmetology, Ms. Amy Bailey in housecraft and domestic science, Mr. Sullivan in gardening need to be recognised and expanded we realise that we need a massive effort to bring our workforce up to speed.
Hilary Robertson-Hickling is a lecturer in the Department of Management Studies,UWI, Mona.
