School-to-work transition programme for special needs students

Special needs students will soon benefit from a school-to-work transition programme being designed by the Ministry of Education and Youth in partnership with the HEART/NSTA Trust.

Assistant chief education officer for the Special Needs Unit in the ministry, Dionne Gayle said the programme will provide a framework to guide students to successfully settle into the world of work.

The move is consistent with the Disabilities Act, which requires that equal access and opportunity be provided to persons with disabilities, to give them a fairer chance in life.

“We had engaged [the relevant] persons, and they wrote a manual [for the programme], so the next phase is, in this term, we'll be identifying entities to do the pilot phase,” Gayle said.

She noted that the ministry aims to expose special needs students to work experiences and the opportunity to be certified through the HEART/NSTA Trust and placed in a job after graduating high school.

Regional Director for Kingston and St Andrew (Region 1) at HEART/NSTA Trust, Charlene Mohan, said the entity wants to “meet the students where there are” and help them to become productive members of society.

“Our research has shown that the period between high school and when they enter the job market is when they're exposed to risky behaviours. And so there may be an increase in teenage pregnancy and other activities that are not contributing to the Jamaican economy,” she pointed out.

She noted that already, several job-training and apprenticeship programmes are available for persons with special needs through the Trust and its relevant partners.

In Region I, partnerships have been forged with the Abilities Foundation, Alpha Institute, First Missionary Skills Training Centre, Genesis Academy, Jamaica Association on Intellectual Disability (JAID), Lister Mair/Gilby Institute for Adult Education, Trinity Moravian Skills Training Centre and the YMCA.

“They do skills training covering a wide range of sectors [and] provide an opportunity for them to be able to use their hands and create items. This will enable them to branch off into entrepreneurial ventures to provide support for themselves and their families as well,” Mohan said.

The skills training covers the areas of hospitality, housekeeping, cake baking, information and communications technology (ICT), construction, among other fields.

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