Is the govt. really forthcoming on technical/vocational education?

Feb 01, 2014 Letters

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DEAR EDITOR,
I believe that the KN letter dated 1/23/14 and captioned “Technical Vocational Education is in its best position in the history of Guyana” is the Ministry of Education and the PPP/C regime’s response to my letter on 1/20/14. In my letter, I categorically blamed the PPP/C for the declining state of technical education in Guyana. Not surprisingly, the regime’s response has done nothing but to justify and support my position.
In my letter I stated that the government’s response will be more of the same charade and talk of some ‘supposed progress’, and so the Ministry claims that the technical education in Guyana is at its best point in Guyana’s history. I am not sure by what standards or basis this position is based, but it is at best, laughable.
In the government’s response we are informed that Guyana is not recognized or ready to offer the Caribbean Vocational Qualifications (CVQ) because it has to, first, meet the certification guidelines and processes set by the Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies (CANTA). The PPP/C also advises us that, as a requirement of CANTA, the Ministry began work in preparation for the CVQ by setting up a council of Technical/ Vocational Education and Training (TVET). The Ministry of Education informs the public that by way of an Act of Parliament in 2004 this council was set up.
It is therefore clear that at least ten years ago the PPP/C government knew that the CVQ was coming on board, but ten years later the Minister says she has no clue of what Guyana needs to do to be able to offer the CVQs. If this government was serious about education, and more particularly technical/vocational education, it would have been proactive and therefore, be more than ready to offer any CVQs one decade later.
Let me reiterate that the PPP/C government inherited a robust, well structured and vision-oriented technical/vocational program from the PNC administration and because of the PPP/C’s lack of foresight, retaliatory politics, vindictiveness, and backward approach to education, technical education has declined both in scope and interest.
Now that the government understands where the rest of the Caribbean and the world are going they are trying to play catch-up when Guyana should be leading the way in technical/vocational training in the region.
The Ministry of Education’s decision to use administrative details as some kind of excuse for not having a clue of what is needed to make Guyana ready to offer the CVQ is totally dishonest and shameful.
In fact, in the Guyana National Report on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) it is stated that “The Ministry of Education is also implementing a new competency-based modularized curricula at the post-secondary institutions for the training of craftsman. (Level Two competency) At the secondary level, there is also the introduction of the Basic Certificate Competency Programme (BCCP), which is aimed at introducing basic labour competencies into the secondary school curricula for form 4 or grade ten students who would be certified at Level One.”
This report, which was published after 2004, clearly indicates that the Ministry of Education is aware of what is needed to have students take at least the level one competency certification, but yet the Minister tells the media she is not sure what is required.
The PPP/C has always bet on their ability to hoodwink the people because they feel we are not paying attention to their actions. In that same report it is stated that “The TVET Bill was promulgated in Parliament on 22nd July 2004. The passage of that legislation was seen as a major policy objective is to modernize the system and improve the quality of the delivery of the various TVET programmes that are offered at the post–secondary institutions and the pre-vocational education system.”
In this statement the objective and effect of the legislation clearly establish that the Act was intended to do more that set up the TVET council. The ‘quality assurance’ issue raised in the government’s response to my letter appears to be nothing but “settling froth.” The Minister ought to have known what the Act was intended to do and the policy initiatives that were expected.
Ensuring quality assurance was certainly highlighted as an important aspect of the program. Why the Minister of Education seems surprised that the delivery of technical/vocational education training should stress quality assurance is very suspicious and points to the government’s continued effort to downplay the importance of technical/vocational education. Her comments in the media regarding the issue appear very lackluster, lack of urgency, lack of intent and sincerity. This government only reacts when it is found wanting. My thinking is that the TVET bill was only tabled in the National Assembly because CANTA required that this should be done. In my view there remains a lack of urgency on the part of the Ministry to implement and promote the desired changes and upgrade to tech/ed.
In a KN item dated 7/20/2011 and captioned “Education Ministry works to boost TVET, ICT training for teachers” then Minister of Education Sheik Baksh boasted about the CDB-funded TVET Enhancement Project and lamented that “…, the project caters for the execution of several consultancies aimed at improving the overall governance of the sub-sector and establishing the institutional framework for the further development of TVET in Guyana”.
So, almost three years ago the government was talking about establishing institutional framework and today Minister Manickchand seems oblivious as to what that framework should look like. Is this government serious? This underscores the negative posture of the regime towards technical education. What about the 3000 TVET-trained teachers Baksh talked about three years ago, where are they in the system?
For the government to say that technical education is the best, now in the history of Guyana is disingenuous and the comment emphasizes the unabashed attitude of this regime. From what basis are we making this determination? I again ask that the Minister of Education to provide the data which tells us what the status of technical/ vocational education was prior to 1992, and let us decide!
Every time the government is called to account for its actions it downplays the people concern and hollers “we are making progress.” This government has retired the positive connotation of the word progress. The fact that youth crime and delinquency in the nation are trending upward is a testament to the gaping holes in the national education policy.
Unless the Minister of Education and the government of Guyana are slow on the uptake they will continue to deny that there is a serious relationship between the nation’s broken education system and spate of youth crime and delinquency.
In the January 24th letter the government, with its usual political grandstanding, made a number of claims. It states that the “TVET institutions have a combined students’ population of over 3000 and graduate more than 1500 students annually.” My question would be of the 1500 graduates what percentage of students is employed or is employed in an entity that utilizes the specific skill or training they would have received at the TVET institutions? Time for specifics, any government truly interested in the nation’s development would consider such information to be critical to assess the overall effectiveness of its policy.
Secondly, how many of these 3000 students are engaged in a work-based learning program, in order that they receive the practical experiences and workplace-readiness skills needed to help them to be successful at the CVQs, and also prepare them for the world of work? Are we waiting for CANTA to tell us that this is needed?
What about community involvement and strategic public sector/private sector partnership in order to help our students’ secure requisite internship?
Since 2004, the Ministry of Education has been put on notice about the CVQ and ten years later the responsible minister is saying to the nation;
1. Guyana is still not ready to offer the CVQ and
2. She is not in a position to say what her ministry has to do to be CVQ ready.
In fact she is quoted in the press as saying “we have to specifically check off what is needed to bring us to that level so that we can offer the CVQs, at least, at Level One in the SCCP (Secondary Competency Certificate Programme).”
This is unacceptable and the people must be alarmed.
Clearly, not much has happened in technical education since 2004, what then has the TVET council achieved in the past decade? Is the council truly functional? This government continues to take the people for granted; it believes that the people are not scrutinizing its action.
According to the PPP/C, the Ministry of Education has opened new TVET centres in Mahaicony and Leonora. I applaud this effort, but at the same time wish to ask the Minister of Education, and the PPP/C government, to tell the nation what they have done to improve the academic, physical structure and technical education program at President’s College?
The government must tell of the specific action it took to better the conditions for students, faculty and staff at this institution. Yes, what about TVET at this school? A few years ago students complained of not having the necessary teachers, and practical learning experiences needed to prepare them to write many of the technical/vocational subjects at CXC. It would therefore be fitting for the PPP/C government to let the students, parents, faculty and staff of Presidents’ College know that the retaliatory campaign against their school is over.
I contend that with the solid technical education plan the PPP/C government inherited from the PNC, Guyana 22 years later should have been ready for any Caribbean competency certification at any level. Using administrative details as some kind of excuse for not having a clue of what is need to make Guyana ready is totally dishonest and shameful.
It is sad that the future of the nation’s children rest with people who have no clue of how to fashion a general and technical education curriculum to appeal to the learning preference of our children.
The government must know that development is also based on the skills and competency of the labour force and the availability of employment to satisfy that force. So far this government continues to play politics with the education of our children. The education system is failing our youths, and this is compounded by the general lack of opportunity for our young people. Year after year, thousands graduate from the University of Guyana yet they are unable to find work, imagine the plight of those young people whom the PPP/C education policy has prematurely rendered incompetent.
I still believe that we have one of the smartest youth populations in the region, but sadly the hopes, dreams and ability, of our young people, continue to elude their reach. I believe that every government should have an opportunity to initiate meaningful policy changes. However, the problem arises when the government attempts to initiate policies and programs that are inimical to the interest of the intended beneficiaries. The situation becomes even more disastrous when the said government has no clue of what it is doing, and could not care less as to how those programs and policies negatively impact on the society as a whole.  While the PPP/C government remains in denial and unresponsive to the education needs of our children, crime soars. Guyanese children deserve better, and in case we forget, our own peace and livelihood depend on whether or not these children were given the opportunity to succeed. This issue of the education of our children is a very serious one and the Minister of Education should be made to provide specific details of the PPP/C’s plan and vision for our children’s future. Minister Manickchand should provide specific information regarding the status of the technical/vocational education program for the nation’s children. Time for “fancy talk” is over; too many of our children are succumbing to the unthinkable alternative. The answer to our children’s future cannot be crime. Time for a status update.
Lurlene Nestor

 

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