Early Life Skills Training Could Help Young People Deal with Life’s Challenges – Civic Leader

Member of the Past Presidents Advisory Committee of the St. Ann Chamber of Commerce Joe Issa is advocating for children to be taught life skills at an early age, contending this could help them to cope with their challenges later in life.

“I think children should be taught the basics such as how to count and what change to expect when they go to the shop, write a proper letter, share what they have with others, cook food and wash the dishes, wash clothes, stitch and iron them, clean their room and make up the bed.

“They must also learn how to use basic tools like the hammer and put up pictures on the wall, change their bicycle tyres and brakes, and change the light bulb. Most importantly, they must learn life-saving skills like how to swim and have respect for the sea, treat a wound and perform CPR,” said Issa, in an interview.

In extolling the virtues of early life skill learning, Issa argues that “the school leavers who understand these will be better able to deal with their personal challenges later in life, especially at college or university when they will be required to balance varying demands, such as doing the house chores, dressing smartly, studying, and submitting assignments on time.”

Issa adds: “Similarly, the graduate who is armed with these life skills is better poised to take advantage of employment opportunities wherever they are, locally or internationally.”

In lamenting the lack of knowledge of life skills by many of the youth today, given the potential contribution these can make to their wholesome development, Issa said “people may not realize this, but it’s an awesome empowerment to be able to help yourself in so many ways and not embarrass yourself…It can boost your adaptive capacity and confidence and enable you to make the right choice of friends, university and career.”

Stating that there are many life skills which must be taught to both kids and parents, Issa cites first aid, of which, according to a survey, a quarter of parents in the US have no knowledge whatsoever, even as many children die in accidents in the home each year.

According to the UK Mirror, “a new study of 2,000 parents reveals millions of children’s lives are at risk because their mums and dads don’t have the appropriate life-saving skills.”

“Show them how to use tools safely, such as screwdrivers and hammers and teach them key facts about electricity and water supplies…Do car maintenance. Knowing how to change a wheel and check the oil levels will help keep them safe and save them time and money,” the paper advocates.

Wikipedia describes Life skills as “abilities for adaptive and positive behaviour that enable humans to deal effectively with the demands and challenges of everyday life. They are a set of human skills acquired via teaching or direct experience that are used to handle problems and questions commonly encountered in daily human life.”

The Macmillan dictionary says the term “life skills”’ refers to a broad range of soft skills which often vary depending on individual situations. It said for kids, they could include numeric literacy and sharing with others, while for university students, “knowing how to manage different workloads and meet deadlines is essential.”

Joe Issa Supports Teaching Money Management to Kids

Founder of one of the nation’s largest retail conglomerate Joe Issa, who is a member of “The Ultimate Professional Directory of International Who’s Who”, has said that he supports the teaching of money management across the school system, stating it will make for a more frugal populace.

“I am of the view that if we teach money management to kids, it will make them more thrifty later on in life,” says Issa, adding, “It could break the back of the phenomenon of living from pay cheque to pay cheque and make for a less turbulent credit environment, such as what we experienced in the late 1990s when both consumers and financial institutions went belly up.”

Issa’s comments come as the present administration moves to introduce an entrepreneurship curriculum in primary, secondary and tertiary institutions to foster innovation among school leavers and generate economic growth.

But now Issa, who supported the idea of early entrepreneurship training, is pushing the envelope to include money management, which he argues is a critical skill for managing spending and credit in adult life, whether for personal purposes or as managers of institutions.

And Issa is not alone. In a survey in the United States, 87 per cent of respondents believe that teaching kids about money management in schools will lower the population of people with credit issues in the future, according to the website Debate.org.

Joseph John Issa

“Yes we do not know whether they will use the financial education learnt early in life to better their futures, but what we do know is that if we do not expose them to it early, they are less likely to have the money management knowledge necessary to produce good spending habits later in life,” says Issa, whose business strategy is to spend as little as possible and earn as much as possible.

A former commercial bank director and Nominee for the Business Observer Business Leader of the Year 2004, Issa says too many consumers fall into the trap of buying on credit without the ability to manage the payments, stating that by not paying their credit card bills in full and on time, they run deeper into trouble.

“More people must understand the cost of not paying cash and the benefits of saving for the future…They must learn early not to be influenced by the Joneses   and spend unnecessarily.

“They need to create a budget and stick to it…In that budget there must be something set aside for saving for future consumption, such as the children’s education, unforeseen circumstances and paying their taxes when due. This means they must be able to track their expenses and manage their income,” says Issa, Executive Chairman of Cool Group of Companies.

He says more people need to think like Warren Buffett, referencing one of the richest men in the world, who has warned would-be investors to hold on to his ideology of frugality, which involves making every financial transaction worth the expense.

Buffett’s well-regarded techniques, which are said to be investment-boosting and portfolio-multiplying, include avoiding expenses which appeal to vanity or snobbery, going for the most cost-effective alternative, favouring expenditures on interest bearing items over all others, and establishing the expected benefits of all desirable expenses using the rule, “plus/minus/nil” to “standard of living value system”.

According to Wikipedia, “Money management is the process of managing money which includes expense tracking, investment, budgeting, banking and taxes. It is also called investment management.”

However, Issa suggests a step-by-step approach beginning with setting goals and creating a budget, which he says, “provide a critical guide for how to proceed,” adding that “it is also important to be able to track spending through bank reconciliation and save some money.”

Businessman Joe Issa Touts Policy Targeting Education and Productivity

Businessman and philanthropist Joe Issa who is known to spend millions of dollars a year on the education of Jamaican children is touting government policy geared towards improving education and productivity.

Joseph John Issa

“The focus on improving education and productivity is a good move as it will enable labour market reform and workforce productivity; these, along with greater value added and better worker compensation, constitute the main ingredients for high growth,” says Issa, adding that “there must be above-normal growth in order for the general living standard of citizens to significantly improve.

A former student of the London School of Economics (LSE) in the United Kingdom where he founded his first charity – Educate the Children Fund – Issa was speaking against the background of the increased need for the education system to generate skills and professions that are demanded by the market, something which Minister of Education, Youth and Information Hon Ruel Reid has been pushing.

Most importantly, Issa cites as critical, labour market reform in order to drive output and productivity as well as increase participation by more Jamaicans in the development process, which he says won’t happen until workers are educated and trained.

Pointing to the importance of labour market reform Issa says “it is critical that we change the market for workers to make it more flexible and efficient, thereby enabling employers to adjust the timing, level and deployment of its workforce to suit their needs,” stating “without it we will lose much needed foreign direct investments.”

In lauding the policy measures, which focus on improving and expanding vocational training, targeting skills and professions that are in high demand and reforming the labour market, Issa says the actions will ensure that the average man on the street participates in adding value at the highest level possible and benefits from economic growth.

In this regard Issa says he likes the new thrust by the ministry of labour and social security to become an economic ministry, “a greater force and stimulant for growth and development,” said the minister, Hon. Shahine Robinson in her contribution to the sectoral debate, acknowledging “the need to enhance labour management and administration.”

SCHOLARSHIP WINNER

Photo caption: Lannois Asser Carol-Wollery (third left) of Campion College, Kingston, was the focus of attention recently from Senator Carlyle Dunkley (left), Minister of Education, Mr. John McKay, headmaster of Campion and Mr. Joe Issa, on being the first recipient of the Joe Issa Holy Cross/ Jamaica Scholarship. Mr. Issa himself, a past student of Campion College, is the innovator of the scholarship.

ALL FOR EDUCATION

Photo caption: ALL FOR EDUCATION: State Minister of Education Burchell Whiteman (left) looks on as Joe Issa, Jr., (2^nd left) presents Happy Grove High School board chairman, Rev. Frank Davis with some of the supplies bought by Caribbean students at the London School of Economics for schools in depressed areas. Others from the left are Lauriston Lindsay, principal of the school and Fitz Taylor, assistant chief education officer.

Public Libraries – 2016 Challenge.

Executive Chairman of Cool Corp, Joe Issa, says the National Library of Jamaica (NLJ) is an essential part of our nation’s educational system as it promotes reading proficiency, and supply’s an extensive variety of information for all ages.

Joseph John Issa

Their travelling libraries provide facilities for the old and the blind and the hearing-impaired, and in many cases are available in local schools, hospitals, and jails. They are an intricate part of our nation’s learning power and therefore plays a positive role in the education of our nation’s future entrepreneurs and business leaders.  There are, however, definite gaps in our education system and these gaps can be plugged with a well-funded library service.

Joey pointed out that The Caribbean Education Foundation (CEF) reports that the issues affecting high schools are: Overall, attendance 65% and leading to chronic underachievement; to which 40-50% of students in the system are below their grade level (approximately 300,000 children). By Grade 9, hundreds of thousands of students, especially boys, cannot read or write and many students are functionally illiterate leaving a scant 20% of secondary graduates qualifying for meaningful employment and/or entry into post-secondary programs.

The National Library of Jamaica (NLJ) has he said, the ability to allow greater access of information to both children and adults who would otherwise be unable to gain the knowledge of technology, thus making it impossible for them to compete successfully as future workers in the nation.

Joey states that The National Library of Jamaica (NLJ) has responsibility for one hundred and twenty-four (124) public libraries, nine hundred and twenty-six (926) school libraries throughout the island. It is the only organization which provides free, unlimited public access to recorded information.  It also operates four hundred and eleven (411) mobile library stops, as well as offers access points for twenty-two (22) special categories of persons.

If our nation is to survive and grow our children must be educated he said, no nation can expect to thrive without education/knowledge at its fingertips.  If this continues Joey warns, the illiteracy rate in the country will continue to rise hindering social and economic growth within our nation.

Unfortunately, the National Library of Jamaica’s (NLJ) has made little or no effect on the educational process in the past years due to its lack of funding.  And, although the (NLJ) envisions that by the year 2016, it will have made a positive impact on our nation’s development.

Joey suggests that contrary to the vision statement made by (NLJ) of “Being well-resourced, well-managed and a technology enhanced organization equipped with well train staff; Provide universal access to information and knowledge, which will result in excellence in customer service; Resulting in an information literate society and a positive impact on national development”.

Saying in an interview Joey stated he was not convinced and that without maximum funding this would not be accomplished in the year 2016.  A library system must be put in place that is accessible to all and is of the highest quality, he said, to fight illiteracy we must start in our local communities and supply the maximum amount of free information in whatever form it takes whether it be technologies, digitized materials, e-books or computers.

This being said he urged the (NLJ) to use whatever resources it has to encourage the public to register as long term members, urging them to cross the threshold to the library, to ensure both human and social achievements.

He continued by saying that literacy is the ability to use printed and written information to function in society. It provides us with the ability to achieve our personal goals, as well as develop our knowledge and skills, it is critical to the economic and social development of a nation, more so in a globalised world. A society with high literacy levels is a progressive society. Interestingly, as the society evolves, so too must the definition of literacy and the methods that lead to its goal.

Works Cited

Their Travelling libraries provide facilities for the old and the blind, and the hearing-impaired, and in many cases are available in local schools, hospitals, and jails. http://lis510-libraries.wikispaces.com/Different+types+of+libraries

Many students are functionally illiterate and only 20% of secondary graduates are qualified for meaningful employment and/or entry into post-secondary programs. http://www.educatechild.org/jamaica-solutions.php

It also operates four hundred and eleven (411) mobile library stops, as well as offers access points for twenty-two (22) special categories of persons. http://jis.gov.jm/agencies/jamaica-library-service/

Three Hills All Age being twinned with Florida school

The Three Hills All Age School in St. Mary is being twinned with the Broward Elementary School in Tampa, Florida, USA, in continuation of an education thrust by the SuperClubs resort group.

The latest exercise is being spearheaded by SuperClubs Couples Hotel in St. Mary, through the instrumentality of the hotel’s general manager Mr. Joey Issa.

In a statement, Mr. Issa has hailed the project as a “major development, which will see an exciting, rewarding exchange of cultural ideas and thoughts between students and teachers at both institutions.”

The project is named “Global 2000”, and it was launched recently at Couples. The launching was attended by executives of both schools, a Couples Hotel management team, Jamaican Ministry of Education officials, and Jamaican and Tampa private sector persons involved in education and recreation.

Mrs. Beverley Demott, principal of the Broward Elementary School, has participated in a reciprocal programme with the Sheffield All Age School in Westmoreland, along with Mr. Issa. She told the launching meeting that she was seeking to do the same at Three Hills.

Mrs. Demott pointed out that she had forged “this valuable link” with Mr. Issa when he was general manager at another SuperClubs property, the Grand Lido, in Negril. “Since then, teachers from my school have visited Sheffield, bringing with them various teaching aids and books,” Mrs. Demott disclosed.

She went on: “My aim is to establish firm links between the children of my school and those of Three Hills All Age, so that subject areas like culture, social studies, and geography can be improved. I also want to set up a computer facility at Three Hills All Age.

“This idea has been submitted to the Florida State Board of Education and has been awarded a prize for being the ‘Most Promising Intercultural Programme’. I am currently involved in shipping to Jamaica a number of school books.”

The chief education officer in the Jamaican Ministry of Education, Mr. Wesley Barrett, acknowledged “the tremendous work that Mr. Joey Issa, the Couples team, and SuperClubs have been doing for education, throughout the years.” He pledged that the ministry would undertake to clear charity books and supplies duty free. He urged service clubs and Jamaican groups in Florida to assist with the shipping of supplies.

The deputy director of the Recreation Department for the City of Tampa, Mr. Wayne Papy, promised to work with Tampa and Jamaica service clubs, in getting the goods to Jamaica. Mr. Papy has already touched base, “at a meeting on March 2, with Ocho Rios Chamber of Commerce manager, Mrs. Val Brown; Mr. Don Creary, from the St. Mary Kiwanis Club, regarding this.

Three Hills All Age’s Principal, Mrs. Claire Hoilett, thanked Couples and Mrs. Demott for selecting her school for assistance. She said he was “a great opportunity” for her school to enhance cultural links outside of Jamaica.

Jamaica Teachers Association president, Mr. Ray Howell, also hailed the project as another milestone in his organization’s long association in the involvement of “twinning” local and foreign schools. He also spoke of dire necessity for teachers to be taught computer skills.

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SuperClubs Twins local, US Schools

The Three Hills All Age School in St. Mary is being twinned with the Broward Elementary School Tampa, Florida, USA, in continuation of education thrust by the SuperClubs resort group.

The latest exercise is being spearheaded by SuperClubs’ Couples Hotel in St. Mary, through the instrumentality of the hotel’s general manager, Mr. Joey Issa.

In statement, Mr. Issa ailed the project as a: major development, which will see an exciting, rewarding exchange of cultural ideas and thoughts between students and teachers of both institutions.”

The project is named “Global 2000”, and it was launched recently at Couples. The launching was attended by executives of both schools, a Couples hotel management team, Jamaican Ministry of Education Officials, and Jamaican and Tampa private and public sector persons involved in education and recreation.

Mrs. Beverly Demott, principal of the Broward Elementary School, has participated in reciprocal programme with the Sheffield All Age School in Westmorland, along with Mr. Issa. She told the launching meeting that she was seeking to do the same at Three Hills.

Mrs. Demott pointed out that she had forged “this valuable link” with Mr. Issa when he was manager at another SuperClubs property, the Grand Lido, in Negril. “Since then, teachers from my school have visited Sheffield, bringing with them various teaching aids and books,” Mrs. Demott disclosed.

She went on: “My aim is to establish firm links between the children of my school and those of Three Hills All Age.

Promising programme

“This idea has been submitted to the Florida State Board of Education and has been awarded a prize for being the ‘Most Promising Intercultural Programme’. I am currently involved in shipping to Jamaica a number of school books.”

The chief education officer in the Jamaica Ministry of Education, Mr. Wesley Barrett, acknowledged “the tremendous work that Mr. Joe Issa, the Couples team and SuperClubs have been doing for education, throughout the years.” He pledged that the Ministry would undertake to clear charity books and supplies duty free. He urged service clubs and Jamaican group in Florida to assist with the shipping of the supplies.

The deputy director of the Recreation Department for the city of Tampa, Mr. Wayne Papy, promised to work with Tampa and Jamaica service clubs, in getting the goods to Jamaica. Mr. Papy has already touched base, at a meeting on March 2, with Ocho Rios Chamber of Commerce manager, Mrs. Val Brown; and Mr. Don Creary, from the St. Mary Kiwanis Club, regarding this.

Three Hills All Age’s principal, Mrs. Claire Hoilett, thanked Couples and Mrs. Demott for her school for assistance. She said it was a “great opportunity” for her school to enhance cultural links outside of Jamaica.

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