HEART of the problem

PRINCIPAL of William Knibb Memorial High School Linvern Wright has criticised the Government’s handling of HEART/NSTA Trust describing it as a “fat calf” producing little for the country, while Jamaica struggles to find enough builders and skilled tradesmen despite years of funding.

Wright’s criticism comes against the backdrop of growing concerns about labour shortages in the construction sector, with repeated complaints around the difficulties finding skilled workers even as demand for housing, infrastructure and school reconstruction projects continues to rise.

Speaking at the Jamaica Teachers’ Association’s Go Public! Fund Education national forum on Monday, Wright questioned whether the country is receiving adequate returns from decades of investment in the nation’s premier technical and vocational training institution.

His comments come days after Government Senator Kavan Gayle warned in the Senate that Jamaica is facing an acute shortage of skilled construction workers, including carpenters, masons, steel workers, electricians, plumbers and finishers. During debate on the National Housing Trust (Amendment) (Special Provisions) Act, 2026, Gayle said the shortage — driven by the migration of skilled workers overseas, an ageing workforce, insufficient graduation rates from vocational institutions, and growing competition for labour from major infrastructure projects — is already causing project delays, staffing difficulties, and productivity challenges across the construction sector.

WRIGHT… no other sector of education — tertiary, primary, early childhood — none of them have got the amount of funding that HEART has got (Photo: JIS)

Against that backdrop, Wright argued that the shortage raises uncomfortable questions about the effectiveness of HEART/NSTA Trust, which has for decades been the country’s primary vehicle for technical and vocational training.

“No other sector of education — tertiary, primary, early childhood — none of them has got the amount of funding that HEART has got, and what we have is a really fat calf that is not producing much for the country, so we have got to look at how we deal with these kinds of things in terms of how we fund things,” he said.

Wright, who is also the immediate former president of the Jamaica Association of Principals of Secondary Schools, argued that Jamaica’s technical and vocational education system was once supported by stronger partnerships between schools and industry.

“Our tech-voc used to be a big, big thing in the 70s and 80s, where Alcan and those [companies] had invested in schools; so STETHS, and Holmwood, and those kinds of schools came out of that. We don’t have that kind of investment again. They are rusted now,” he said.

According to Wright, the country has failed to make the kind of sustained, strategic investment required to build a workforce capable of supporting national development goals.

He argued that the shortcomings he sees in HEART are symptomatic of a wider problem — a long-standing failure by policymakers to treat education as a national priority deserving of the same level of attention and financial commitment as other major initiatives.

Pointing to Parliament’s prolonged deliberations on the National Reconstruction and Resilience Authority (NaRRA), he said legislators have shown they are capable of devoting significant time and energy to issues they regard as important.

“I want all of you to think of how long our Government spent to discuss the NaRRA Bill. They never slept because that was important to them. It was priority. I have never in my life as an educator seen them spend past maybe two hours talking about education. NaRRA was priority, with all its ills and all its issues. It was priority. And until we get them to spend some time in Parliament to pass a Bill to say that this is the minimum we’re going to spend because this is what is necessary for us to move as a country, educational funding is not going to be adequate,” he declared.

Wright also argued that Jamaica needs legally protected minimum levels of investment in education to ensure long-term funding commitments survive changes in government priorities and economic conditions.