USF to employ students who excel in coding training

Three hundred young people, who are currently in training in an initiative by the Universal Service Fund (USF) to get them to learn coding, will be assured of jobs once they acquit themselves well and successfully complete the training.

Dr Daniel Dawes, the USF's CEO, while speaking at a recent launch of communnity Wi-Fi in Siloah, St Elizabeth, said the people in training are receiving $50,000 each fortnight to participate in the programme. They are training in institutions in Kingston, St Ann, Clarendon and Westmoreland. Dawes also stated that the USF plans to fund the tuition of successful students from the coding programme who might wish to continue their studies at the Northern Caribbean University, University of Technology, or The University of the West Indies.

Dawes said the USF will be continuing the mandate it was given by the Science, Energy, Telecommunications and Transport Minister Daryl Vaz to provide underserved communities with access to high-speed broadband Internet service.

The USF spent over J$3 billion on initiatives to boost digital inclusion, including increasing access to high-speed Internet across the island, during the 2023-24 fiscal year.

The Siloah Community Wi-Fi project will allow residents to freely log in to the system, using their smartphones or tablets. Siloah is the fourth community in St Elizabeth Northwest to benefit from the initiative, joining Balaclava, Quick Step, and Seven Corners.