By Vernon Daley, Senior Reporter
MOST OF the 81 young people who recently graduated from the Caribbean Institute of Technology (CIT) have not found jobs despite assurances all would be guaranteed employment after completing their training in computer technology.
The principal of CIT, Mike Glova, yesterday said only 14 of the students had landed jobs having been scooped up by the Montego Bay-based Indusa Global, an international software firm.
Another 16, he said, would be taken on in January by Multivisual, a German Internet company which was being set up in the Montego Bay Free Zone.
While optimistic the remaining 51 graduates would be placed between this month and early in 2001, Mr. Glova could not say which companies would rope them in.
"In the last couple of weeks I have been optimistic a lot of companies will be coming into the Free Zones and we will be able to place a majority of the students," he said.
Those students who are not placed would be taken on as technicians at CIT or channelled into other government projects which could make use of their skills, the CIT principal said.
He acknowledged the 10-month training programme was sold on the basis that students would be given jobs on graduation, but argued it was still early days.
"Some of them (graduates) are concerned but we can only tell them it's been only 11 days since they have actually received their diplomas," he said.
Last year, CIT rolled into operation training 42 programmers, which were all swept up by the Indusa, which holds a stake in the institute. Other partners in CIT are the University of the West Indies (UWI), Heart Trust, Furman University of South Carolina, the Ministry of Commerce and Technology and the International Development Consortium (IDC) of the UK.
The institute, which is one of the main planks of Commerce and Technology Minister Phillip Paulwell's IT project, is designed to capitalise on the growing need for computer programmers globally.
In January, Indusa which is managed by Mr. Glova, announced it could employ about 400 programmers from Jamaica if it was able to land a contract from Computer Sciences Corp valued at $50 million a year over the next three years. Computer Sciences Corp needs 800 programmers, half of which would come from Jamaica. However, that contract has not yet been sealed.
Indusa clients include the Bay Networks, Realm Technologies, Edward Fine Food conglomerate, Bank of America and the National Processes Centre.
