SOUTH EAST St Ann Member of Parliament Lisa Hanna has warned that Jamaican youths may be left behind if the state does not equip them with skills to meet the demands of a changing world.
In her contribution to the Sectoral Debate in Parliament on Wednesday, Hanna said the amount of new technical information being taught is doubling every two years and Jamaicans will be at a disadvantage if the country fails to stay at least within touching distance of these revolutions.
"Our training system is not equipping us for the jobs of the future or for productive survival in the present," Hanna, who is the opposition spokesperson on youth, information and culture, said.
According to Hanna, "In today's reality, a student starting a four-year technical degree, half of what they learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study. Additionally, the top 10 'in-demand' jobs for 2010 did not exist in 2004.
"The rest of the world is currently preparing students for jobs that don't yet exist; using technologies that have not yet been invented in order to solve problems we don't even know are problems yet."
She added: "We are living in exponential times and until we recognise this we will continue to equip our young people with skills to compete in a world that is rapidly disappearing without providing them with the requisite resources to correct the long-term damage."
Export potential
Meanwhile, Hanna has also called on the Government to stimulate the potential for export by providing incentives for graduates working in export industries.
She suggested that the state grant income tax exemptions for employees, up to the age of 25, who work in industries that deposit a predetermined amount of foreign exchange with the Bank of Jamaica.
Hanna also suggested that the National Housing Trust could give a two per cent interest rate reduction for persons employed in foreign-exchange industries.
"We must give a stimulus to our young people as we have never done before, because it is in their hands that the future of Jamaica rests and through their hands that our nation's prosperity will be achieved," Hanna said.
Lisa Hanna -Rudolph Brown/Chief Photographer