CLIMATE CHANGE, GREEN ECONOMY PROGRAMME GETS THUMBS UP
MONEAGUE, St Ann; March 21, 2025
A ceremony acknowledging and assessing international cooperation among The Moneague College, HEART Ebony Park Academy and two Canadian colleges, that made possible an agro-processing programme in the Jamaican institutions, was held at Moneague on Thursday, March 13, 2025.
(PARTNERSHIP: Sean Kennedy, right, President of Niagara College says well done as he shakes the hand of Moneague Principal Howard Isaacs at the closing ceremony. At left is Elizabeth Vincent, Associate Vice-President, International, College of the North Atlantic, Canada).
The event marked the end of the Skills to Access the Green Economy (SAGE-05) programme, sponsored by the Colleges and Institutes of Canada (CICan), Niagara College and the College of the North Atlantic. They provided institutional support, training and accepted faculty and students on exchange visits over the five years of the programme.
(Some of the participants in the closing ceremony of the programme of collaboration among Canadian institutions and Moneague College, Ebony Park Academy on climate change and the green economy)
Vice-Principal of Academics at Moneague, Kenene Senior Smith, welcomed everyone and provided an overview of the SAGE programme. The five-year programme, sponsored by Global Affairs Canada was designed to provide support to the green economy and address climate change in the Caribbean region by sharing Canadian expertise in technical and vocational education in the area of agro-processing.
(Dr Sasha Shim-Hue, Regional Director, Region 1 HEART/NSTA Trust presents a plaque of appreciation to Elizabeth Vincent, Associate Vice-President, International, College of the North Atlantic, Canada. Also in the picture from the College are Dr. Janine Murphy, left, and Heidi Staeben-Simmons, Associate Vice President, Public Affairs and Advancement.)
It was hailed as successful and transformative, by past and present students, the Moneague College and HEART Ebony Park Academy administration and high-level representatives of the two participating Canadian colleges.
The Jamaican institutions benefitted from student visits to Niagara and the College of the North Atlantic, faculty collaboration and the development of programmes offering agro-processing courses. The support from the Canadian institutions also helped in strengthening teacher capacity in areas of food security. It also allowed the development at Moneague of farm practices and food processing with an impact on the college’s food production and community supply
( A section of the audience at the closing ceremony)
Principal of the Moneague College Howard Isaacs, thanked all the partners in the programme. He said Moneague’s students and faculty had benefitted greatly through the process, including through visits to the institutions in Canada.
(President of Niagara College Sean Kennedy making his presentation. Looking on are Co-chairs for the closing ceremony Dr Anita Facey, and Howard McCalla, left),
Addressing the closing ceremony at the Dr Aubrey Phillips lecture theatre at the main campus, Moneague, Mr Isaacs said one stage of the programme was closed. However, he said there would be more as the college had retained the knowledge and skills that were being applied through the accredited associate degree programme and short courses in food processing, of benefit to the community.
(HEART Ebony Park Academy student Chinela Haye tells benefits to her and others of the Canadian assisted programme at the institution)
President of Niagara College, Sean Kennedy, said SAGE had allowed the forming of relationships. He said it had led, among students, to the development of “skills to allow you to be successful as professionals and also as individuals”. Mr Kennedy said Niagara College was involved with several programmes impacting students and communities around the world and SAGE was one of the more noteworthy of them.
He said: “It has been an amazing story so far, but what next?” Mr Kennedy suggested to the partners that they could think about new ways of expanding the partnership and building on what had been accomplished.
(Students from The Moneague College concentrate as they are about to do an entertaining cultural number)
Associate Vice President of the College of the North Atlantic, Elizabeth Vincent, looked back at the partnerships and the programme from its embryonic stage, five years ago. “Not only did we make it, we made it work,” she said, congratulating the various persons and partners involved. She said it was people who made the partnership work. To the students who benefitted, Ms Vincent said: “Believe in yourselves.”
The closing ceremony was chaired Dr Anita Facey, Head of Programmes, HEART Ebony Park Academy and Howard McCalla, Head, School of Humanities, the Moneague College.
Representing HEART NSTA at the function were Dr Sasha Shim-Hue, Regional Director, Region 1 and Calvin Weise, Director/Principal, Ebony Park Academy. Shehryar Sarwar, Counsellor and Head of Development Cooperation, represented the Canadian High Commission.
Several past and present students from The Moneague College and Ebony Park gave testimonials about how the programmes offered with Canadian assistance had changed or were changing, their lives.
The day’s activities closed with an applied research symposium.
