KINGSTON, JAMAICA – A new online school aimed at helping Jamaicans compete globally has just opened with support from New Glasgow's Velsoft Training Materials.
The school, called The Competitiveness Institute, uses Velsoft's technology and platforms and will help Jamaicans who want to be better at their jobs. It will also serve as a resource for employers to improve employee skills.
“We are thrilled to be part of this extremely exciting project. Nova Scotia and Jamaica have a long history as trading partners so it’s only natural that this trading continue in today’s digital global economy,” said Velsoft founder and CEO Jim Fitt.
The Competitiveness Institute is a project four years in the making that promises to provide globally competitive skills for Jamaican companies looking to up-skill their workforce, employees who are underemployed, and youth entering the workforce. The goal of the Competitiveness Institute is to offer capacity building that is accessible to all Jamaicans.
"Every Jamaican who builds capacity makes us all stronger," says Dr. Beverley Morgan, president of the Competitiveness Institute. "Whether this is customer service, time management, leadership or communications, we all benefit from having employees with greater skills. To do this right we needed the right partner. Velsoft is the world leader in building online schools and has been a pleasure to work with. Their technologies and experience mean the Competitiveness Institute will be second to none."
While the Competitiveness Institute will address the soft skills gap facing students who leave high school with no work experience as clearly identified in the 2017 National Labour Market survey, the greater focus will be on building the skills of those already in the workforce.
Kacy Garvey, Principal Researcher with the Competitiveness Institute, cites the exponential growth in internet-capable mobile phone usage for the decision to create an open, online-only institute.
“An open institute is an online institute with an open-door academic policy, with minimal or no entry requirements,” she says. “The Competitiveness Institute is designed to be accessible to all Jamaicans. This means it must not only be effective but also be easy to use, wildly affordable, and available on all devices.”
Garvey says a key innovative technology employed is the ability to access course content even when the phone or computer is not connected to the internet, which provides anywhere access with no concerns for data costs.
In addition to already offering more than 200 soft skills courses, the Competitiveness Institute makes available globally recognized certifications in food manufacturing, digital marketing, and financial technologies.
The Competitiveness Institute can be found online at
http://www. competitivenessinstitute.com
