KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — Students from primary and secondary schools across the island are participating in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information’s National Careers Week (NCW) and Skills Competitions 2018.

The week, from February 17 to 23, is being held under the theme ‘Building the Future by Guiding the Present’. The objective is to encourage the youth to focus on skills development and make wise career choices.

Technical Delegate for World Skills Jamaica in the Ministry, Dr Nadine Leachman, said that the week presents an opportunity for young people to learn about new and emerging jobs.

“They will get the chance to interact with their peers from the Junior Achievement Company of Entrepreneurs (JACE) at the high-school level and Junior Achievement BizTown at the primary level, and participate in exciting events designed to connect them with the world of work, skills and entrepreneurship,” she noted.

Activities got under way with a national church service at the Salem Baptist Church in Runaway Bay, St Ann, followed by expositions at parish libraries, youth information centres (YIC) and regional offices of the Ministry and a Leaders’ Summit and Youth Forum at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel.

The highlight of the week is the staging of the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) skills competitions from February 20 to 22 at the National Area.

Over the three days, more that than 6,000 students will showcase their technical abilities in areas such as welding, cooking, electronics, visual merchandising, creative arts and fashion, graphic design technology, computer-aided design, logistics, mobile application development, digital animation, robotics and mechatronics.

The week concludes on Friday with a ‘Manager for a Day’ event, where organisations will invite employees’ children to take part in structured activities in the workplace, such as presentations, tours and job shadowing.

Partners in the staging of NCW are HEART Trust/NTA, Junior Achievement Jamaica and World Skills, Career Advancement Programme (CAP) and the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU).