Jamaican expert calls for attitude change to fully embrace TVET

Oct 01, 2014 News

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– emphasises importance of punctuality  

By Sharmain Grainger

The need for a change in values and attitudes was cited as critical, before earnest agitation can

be made Caribbean-wide towards fully embracing Technical, Vocational Education Training (TVET).  This assertion was yesterday made by TVET visionary, Robert Gregory.
The Jamaican, who has for many years displayed a keen interest in the area of TVET, was at the time speaking at the start of a Ministry of Education-organised stakeholders’ forum held at the Millennium Manor Hotel, Hadfield Street, Georgetown.
Tasked with delivering the feature address at the forum, Gregory took time to explain that “attitudes come from somewhere; attitudes come from your values…at the root of all things is values–what you stand for, what you believe, who you are at your very core is what influences your attitude, and your attitude is really your predisposition towards anything.”
He made this point to underscore that inculcated attitude is a feature that a human being adopts to craft their behaviour.
And even as he addressed the need for attitudinal changes to ensure that TVET becomes a real asset to the Caribbean, Gregory could not contain his passion about the importance of punctuality. His move to divert from the TVET subject was premised on the fact that the planned 09:00 hours start of the forum yesterday was delayed in order to accommodate the arrival of participants.
“There is a correlation between serious countries, serious people and punctuality,” said a stern Gregory, as he recalled a visit to Germany where he was able to observe punctuality at its best, or so he thought then.  “But when I went to China, trust me…when dem say the bus leaving at 8, the bus is pulling out at 8 on the dot, mek the Germans and the Swiss look like a joke,” said Gregory in a thick Jamaican accent.
In emphasising the importance of punctuality, he stressed that “punctuality has to do with time and time is a non-renewable resource; we will never relive this moment we are in right now…If you waste it, it’s gone; you can’t recapture it…we are one minute older and closer to our grave.”
He therefore cautioned those gathered at the forum that spending time is in fact like spending money and must therefore be used as a resource with a view of getting a return on the time invested.

“How much is half an hour of your time worth folks? How many dollars?” questioned Gregory as he pointed out that those oblivious to the importance of punctuality in essence “punish the punctual, those who came on time sitting down waiting for you to come, wasting their time waiting. Can you imagine adding up the value you ascribe to your half-hour that you sat waiting…the total sum of money wasted for yourself and for Guyana, think about it that way and then you will understand why the German people are there on time, and why the Swiss bus arrives at 8:06…”
He even went on to highlight that people in ‘serious countries’ are at work on time doing their job and not simply drinking coffee first; they turn up at work to work and they produce because time is money.
Gregory, in continuing on his TVET deliberations, disclosed that the Caribbean seems to be well on its way to directing needed focus to technical matters, as according to him, a TVET Strategy for workforce development and economic competitiveness was only recently launched.
The document which Gregory displayed yesterday was launched in Trinidad and Tobago last week Monday and came after a number of years of consultations with citizens of the Caribbean of various professional levels.
“This represents the ratified thoughts of the Caribbean people about how they are going to move forward with TVET, and TVET as a means to an end, as education is a means to an end…no longer are we talking about education in little compartments,” Gregory asserted.
According to him, “it (TVET) is not an end in itself; it is a vehicular tool to arrive at workforce development and the competitiveness of Guyana and the entire Caribbean in this global environment.”
Also speaking at the forum yesterday was Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam, who lauded the work that Gregory has over the years plugged into helping the Region embrace TVET.  Gregory, according to Sam, has committed to supporting Guyana in its efforts to help craft where it is going to go in relation to the broader regional movement towards enhancing the TVET agenda.  “The reasons why I think this is critical is because we in the education system have moved, I think, a very long way in relation to recognising that Technical, Vocational Education and Training has to be the vehicle for the development of this nation we so love, and that the education system has to articulate that in very real, tangible ways; that our structures or pathways need to reflect the importance of TVET,” Sam emphasised.
Alluding to the need to embrace TVET to aid national development, Assistant Chief Education Officer, Patrick Chinedu, spoke of the need for measures to be implemented at secondary schools across Guyana in order to realise greater benefits.
“We know we can’t do it alone. We ask you parents, teachers, education officers (to support us). We know and I’m confident our officers at the Ministry have bought into this idea,” Chinedu told the gathering.
He disclosed that while Caricom has launched a TVET Strategy, Guyana has also developed its own plan “that we hope is going to take us to that place where Guyana can benefit from the successes, the fruits, the results that a well articulated TVET system can bring to Guyana towards its economic competitiveness.”
The effort by the Ministry of Education to raise awareness about the importance of TVET is being supported by the Government of Canada, and the support was reinforced by the presence of a representative at the forum yesterday.

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