'Jamaica wasting human capital'
Published:Tuesday | November 23, 2010 | 12:00 AM
Nadisha Hunter, Gleaner Writer
THE HEADS of a number of local institutions are calling for human capital to be better developed, as the low quality of professionals is stifling the progress of some entities.
Dr Patric Rutherford, CEO of Andrews Memorial Hospital, said the biggest challenge hitting the workplace is the quality of the people within it.
"For the service industry, you make your name and you strive from the quality of the service that you provide," Rutherford told journalists and colleagues representing other recipients of 2010 Gleaner Honour Awards during an Editors' Forum at the newspaper's North Street, central Kingston, offices last Thursday.
"When the people who come to you in just plain language don't have manners and have to be taught simple things, it's proven to be a financial burden on the institution, both from loss of business and from what it takes to train people to bring them up to speed."
Rutherford added that the education system needs to redouble its efforts by becoming more multi-faceted in providing not only academics, but developing in students a culture of being service-oriented, which could add value in their future jobs.
Joseph M. Matalon, president of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), charged that the need to develop human capital was also an issue of concern for the business community, as it strives to provide quality service to the public.
"Until we start to view human capital as an economic asset, we are going to be running into problems," Matalon told attendees at the forum.
"Clearly, when you look at the statistics coming out of the educational sector and the extent to which, for example, kids leaving high school at 16 and 17 years of age are barely able to read and write and are barely numerate, that is not providing a solid foundation for workforce development," he added.
The PSOJ head called for a special boost to be given to early-childhood education.
Fix foundation first
He said that in order to fix the problem, the foundation must be first addressed.
"If you don't provide that foundation in the early-childhood years, then we are always going to be behind the eight ball trying to move forward," Matalon said.
"The truth is, by the time the kids get to the GSAT (Grade Six Achievement Test) if they don't get into one of the schools that are recognised to produce a good product, then those kids, in terms of academic achievement, are condemned to mediocrity and we can't afford to waste our human resources in that way."
Matalon argued that the solution does not lie solely in the education ministry, but it is everyone who should get involved in the development stage.
He said people could get active either by becoming involved in parent-teacher associations, getting on a school board, encouraging good governance in the school or pushing for good performance systems in the education sector.
Dr Geraldine Hodelin, assistant professor at the University of Technology (UTech), expressed similar sentiments, noting that one sector or group cannot fix the problem.
"All the children in Jamaica belong to all of us. They are the social capital of this country and we are owners of this and everyone just needs to be prepared to help," Hodelin said.
The educator called for persons to take responsibility for shaping education in a positive way.