THE Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) will this year focus on the development and implementation of a system for certifying uncertified persons to meet the requirements of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy.
Director of the TVET Council, Sidney Walters said this is one of several areas of priority to advance the work of the Council and pointed out that the body will also continue to assist persons to find training places at businesses, industries and technical institutions.
He said that to this end, the Council is meeting with private sector establishments to promote its work and to solicit their cooperation in the execution of development programmes and innovations.
Walters noted too that all registered technical institutes and supervising training organizations in the private and public sectors are being monitored, particularly as it relates to the implementation of quality assurance strategies.
The Council is currently supervising the implementation of the quality assurance guidelines that were prepared by the Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies (CANTA) for use by any CARICOM state that is seeking recognition by the Council for Human and Social Development (COSHOD) to issue the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ).
A statement from the Ministry of Education said it must be noted that a 10-point plan which articulates the requirements for a country to be recognised by COSHOD to issue the CVQ was prepared by the Council and approved at the last COSHOD meeting.
Walters also said the TVET governing body will continue to collaborate with international agencies on matters of TVET, implement the work that is to be discharged by the curriculum lead group and carry out pilot tests on the Competency Based Modularisation Curricula for post-secondary institutions.
In addition, the TVET Council Director said workshops will be held on the preparation of modules in the areas of plumbing and welding, skills and information technology and the delivery of entrepreneurship education for staff of post-secondary institutions.
Focus will also be placed on other areas including the training of assessors to conduct assessment of students, the establishment of a national system of testing and certification, the establishment of a national TVET certification board and the holding of a workshop to train persons on the development of occupational standards using the CARICOM format.
It is expected that the above mentioned activities which form part of the programme for the strengthening of the Council for TVET will be financed through the “Strengthening of TVET” project being funded by the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB).
The CARICOM project “Training for Employment” will also be implemented this year and the Council will be the lead local agency in the implementation of its three components, namely: Strengthening Regional Capacity, Increasing Employment of TVET graduates and Strengthening Capacity of TVET institutions.
The TVET Council, which is at the embryonic point of its development, is powered by the TVET Act of 2004 to serve Guyana in accordance with the provisions of that Act.
The goal is to strengthen the Council to have the capacity to discharge its mandate for the further development of TVET nationally to the benefit of all.