Importance of TVET amplified at Education Fair

Sep 27, 2013 News

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– as Education Month observances continue

The notion that Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) must have a significant place in the curriculum at all levels was extensively amplified when the Ministry of Education hosted a TVET Career/Open Day Fair yesterday at the Education Sports Complex Ground, Carifesta Avenue, Georgetown.
In fact, according to Chief Education Officer (CEO) Olato Sam, who delivered the feature address, the Education Sector, and by extension Guyana, has come to the realisation that TVET is of immense importance.
“It has been a long and arduous road, but we have moved away from a place where technical and vocational education and training was largely regarded as an area of low skills, low wage pursuits.”
Sam went on to explain to the gathering of mainly education officials, teachers, students and partners of the Education Ministry that the sector has progressed over the years as it relates to TVET.
According to him, although in the past a significant percentage of young people were emerging from the school system equipped to take up meaningful places within the workforce, there were a number who were not so fortunate. He explained that there were many cases where students found themselves with various forms of certification which had no relevance or consistence with the demands of the labour market.
“We are no longer there; we have moved away from the position where academic learning was seen as superior and conducted oftentimes at the expense of technical education…We have moved a far place away from the backward mindset that TVET pursuits are for the less able among us,” Sam asserted.
In fact it was such a mindset, he noted, that over the years served to undermine the developmental potential of the nation, even as he elatedly expressed that Guyana has since forged for itself a new position for TVET.
Sam emphasised that there is widespread recognition that pupils and teachers’ engagement in the teaching/learning process must move beyond merely content knowledge towards emphasising skills acquisition including problem-solving, decision-making, teamwork and communication which are invaluable not just in the school setting but also in the work environment.
Added to this, the CEO spoke of the need for a more learner-centred approach which places a significant premium on the competency of students, a notion that has been adopted within the education system. According to Sam, competency-based education and training has long been adopted as the national approach for technical education and a critical component of the Secondary Competency Certificate Programme (SCCP) in more than half of the schools in Guyana.
“This flexible learner-centred approach has well articulated standards defining the outcomes being achieved along with rigours assessments and verification processes…As a result, a significant degree of confidence has been restored to the certification process. It is for this reason that employers along the length and breadth of Guyana can rest assured that anyone emerging from a technical institute with a certificate in hand is not just theoretically sound but proficient in all the practical skills there is.”
Sam said that to facilitate this, a number of technical institutes and training centres have been established in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and 10. And there are already solidified plans for another such institution in Region Nine, he disclosed.
“We have forged a strong relationship with industry (sector) through the Council for Technical and Vocational Education,” said Sam, even as he recognised the work of the TVET Council. He is of the firm belief that it is time that the body “venture beyond the safety of the insulated technical domains and move TVET into every household so that it becomes a national and well understood concept.”
Sam noted that in order for an education system to meet its mandate of contributing to sustainable economic prosperity through the creation of a globally competitive workforce, business and industry must play a key role.
“We are committing to improving the mechanism for industry to articulate their needs and concerns in order to facilitate the designs and maintenance of programmes that are relevant to the job market needs…We have come a long way in this regard, but given the dynamic nature of contemporary labour environments, we have to ensure that our systems are able to respond to market changes in a timely manner.”
Moreover, he alluded to a labour market intelligence survey commissioned by the TVET Council, which he said is of vital importance, even as there are continued moves to upgrade technical teachers and insert a number of quality assurance mechanisms in the technical education system.
Such moves, according to Sam, have allowed for “a cadre of highly qualified assessors and verifiers, and we will continue to equip and improve the quality of the material resources available at all of our institutions.”
He noted that yesterday’s fair was one intended to sound a clarion call to usher in the new age in education. This “new plus” is expected to place Guyana squarely in-line with contemporary practices that obtain in the Region and further afield, thereby catering to the ultimate acceleration of national development.
The fair which was touted as the landmark event in the Ministry’s Education Month agenda,
saw the attendance of a wide cross-section of the business sector and a number of entities which fall under the purview of the Ministry of Health, which also has booths on display to highlight their work in the society.
The event, which was chaired by the Education Ministry’s Chief Planning Officer, Ms Evelyn Hamilton, embraced the Education Month theme of “Transforming the Classrooms for the 21st Century.”
In addition to a number of cultural presentations from students, the event also saw Assistant Chief Education Officer (Technical), Patrick Chinedu Onwuzirike, presenting an overview of the TVET Strategic and Action Plan for the period 2013-2020.

 

 

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