WESTERN BUREAU:

HANOVER IS suffering from a high rate of illiteracy and stakeholders are concerned that the problem will erode the parish's long-term economic development if it is not urgently addressed.

General manager of the Hanover Co-operative Credit Union, Jennifer Taylor-Wilson, says that while she stands ready to assist entrepreneurs in their efforts to contribute to Hanover's growth, she is not comfortable with the level of training these individuals possess.

"When we look at small businesses, we have to look at training, as they need to know how this business will work, how profits will be made and how does a business survive. This (aspect) is lacking," Wilson argued.

Affecting employment rate

She was among the panellists at a Gleaner Editors' Forum held at the Hanover Parish Council building in Lucea last Wednesday.

With a population of 67,000, Hanover is considered the smallest parish in Jamaica. According to the last report done in 1999 by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica, the parish has an illiteracy rate of 25.7 per cent and a total of 9,372 persons are unemployed in Hanover.

"I must confess that we are having a heck of a problem with the illiteracy rate we are seeing. We are not even getting 43 entrants to HEART Trust/NTA out of every 100 persons who sit the entrance test," said Everdon Dixon, marketing public education officer for the Northwestern Region of the HEART Trust/NTA.

Dixon noted that part of his organisation's drive over the last two years, to help students confront their educational deficiency, is to visit schools across the parish and have 11th-graders sit a HEART Trust/NTA entrance test, which mirrors a Grade Nine Diagnostic Test.

"We are hoping that while they are in school, they will get the necessary help from their teachers so they can resit the entrance test, pass it when they graduate, and have an opportunity to qualify to enter the HEART Trust/NTA system

sheena.gayle@gleanerjm.com