HEART Trust working to ease certificate backlog
Published:Thursday | August 10, 2023 | 12:11 AMSashana Small/Staff Reporter
DR TANEISHA Ingleton, managing director of the HEART/NSTA Trust, said the entity is working to clear the backlog of certificates for people who have completed courses at the agency.
Speaking at a post-Cabinet press briefing yesterday, Ingleton said HEART has embarked on a certificate collection drive to encourage people to pick up their certificates.
The Trust’s drive includes advertisements on its social media pages as well as ensuring that certificates are present at some of its locations, such as the Ebony Park Academy in Clarendon.
She said the entity also tries to be present at events such as the recent Denbigh Agricultural, Industrial and Food Show 2023, where individuals could come and collect certificates.
“If it is that there are individuals out there that have not yet received their certificates, it’s easy to send a message to the Trust, you can send it through our dm our Instagram pages, on our LinkedIn pages, you can call 991-HEART and we will have the certificates ready for you. We also have mobile services where we can literally take the certificates to you as well, so it’s not onerous and it should not be a problem,” she said.
Her statement comes as HEART prepares for more enrolment in courses following the removal of all tuition requirements for courses up to associate degrees, that took effect in April.
At the time, Ingleton told The Gleaner that she expected an increase in uptake of between 30 and 50 per cent from their target enrolment of 100,000.
Full training experience
While stating that the practical component of the courses offered at the HEART NSTA/Trust is the “biggest and most important piece in our training”, Dr Ingleton said the Trust employs a 70/20/10 model to ensure that the trainees get full experience.
“Where 70 per cent is on the actual experience, on the job training, 20 per cent would be the core theory of the course and that 10 per cent would be the collaboration between you and your teammates, industry partners, that experience that you would get communicating with individuals in and outside the course,” she said.
Ingleton also reiterated that courses at HEART are up to date and in line with industry standards.
“We work with industry to create all programmes. As a matter of fact, if industry does not sign off on a programme, it cannot be offered,” she said. “We have been working with World Skills International for the standards. We also collect data from the world economic forum to ensure that we have all the global standards incorporated in our training.”