“If you can’t make it to the classroom, the classroom is now coming to you!”
The Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) is rolling out its ‘Training on Wheels’ ICT Bus initiative designed to boost technological literacy and bring digital skills directly to communities.
Equipped with state-of-the-art technology, YTEPP relaunched its Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Bus initiative on Friday at Marabella North Secondary School.
Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Training, Professor Prakash Persad, noted that the world is being reshaped by digital technology, and ICT knowledge is no longer a luxury but a necessity. He emphasised the importance of providing citizens with opportunities to thrive in a digital society.
“Digital competence underpins almost every area of development. However, we cannot speak about becoming a digital nation if entire communities remain disconnected from the tool and skills that would allow them to participate.”
Member of Parliament for Claxton Bay, Hansen Narinesingh, said the ICT programme was designed to democratise access to digital skills while strengthening T&T’s technological capacity. He added that this initiative will be especially beneficial to youth and displaced workers, providing them with the tools needed to compete in the rapidly evolving digital economy.
“As industries undergo profound transformation, the recalibration of our national workforce is not optional, it is an economic necessity.”
Chairman of YTEPP Limited, Bishop Dr. Maurice Jones, reiterated that this bus has been newly refurbished and equipped with modern technologies, and it will not sit in a garage waiting to be visited. Instead, it will travel.
“It will roll into communities like Claxton Bay, where the need for accessible digital training is real and urgent. It will provide a safe, mobile classroom environment where young people, some of whom may never have touched a computer, can begin exploring the digital world with confidence.”
Professor Persad also reflected on when the digital bus was initially launched in 2012 by former Minister of Science, Technology and Tertiary Education, the late Fazal Karim, in a move to expand access to digital skills training.