TVET Council records achievements as one-year anniversary approaches

Jul 21, 2014 News

---

Established under an Act of Parliament on July 22, 2004, the Council for Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is preparing to celebrate 10 years of existence. The introduction of the TVET Council was premised on a Government of Guyana policy and CARICOM Regional Strategy on TVET, both of which were established in 1990.

Moreover, the Council is a tripartite organization with its members being selected from the private sector, labour and Government. It functions under the motto ‘Excellence in Standards and Quality’ and embraces a vision ‘to ensure a competent labour force to meet the changing demands of global competitiveness.’

Therefore the mission of the TVET Council is instructive in terms of the performance of the system nationally.

According to Director of the Council, Mr Sydney Walters, the mission states that “the workforce preparation in Guyana is committed to ensuring that Business and Industry are provided at all levels of occupational standards, with workers who are competent to provide a high quality of product and services as demanded by global competitiveness.”

As such, Walters noted that the focus is on training for employment with an emphasis on the maintenance of standards and quality in the delivery of the occupational programmes. And according to him, “it must be noted that the involvement of business and industry in such training cannot be overemphasized since training for employment must be informed by their contributions.”

Objectives

Among the objectives of the Council is to advise the Minister on the measures required to ensure a comprehensive system of TVET that is suited to the development needs of Guyana. It is also designed to cater to the establishment, development and monitoring schemes for training of craftsmen, technicians and engineers needed to sustain and enhance economic growth.

Added to this Walters said that the Council is one mandated to develop a national system of Competency Based Modularised Training and initiate its implementation even as moves are made to expand the scope of industrial training within the industry. Further it has a responsibility to monitor and evaluate the delivery of all TVET programmes; implement a national system of testing and certification and to implement and maintain standards for the delivery of TVET, Walters added.

The first TVET Council was appointed in October, 2006, with Walters as the Chairman and Mr Elton McRae as the Director. Dr William Wilson served as Chairman of the Council from October 1, 2007, through June 30, 2012. He was succeeded by Mr Clinton Williams on July 1, 2012.

Walters assumed duties as the Director on January 2, 2008.

He disclosed that in the early days, the focus was on the creation of an awareness of the Council for TVET and the promotion of its work.

As a result, meetings were held with all the vocational education and training providers including the post-secondary institutions in the public and private sectors as well as the stakeholders. The meetings, Walters recalled, were complemented by press releases and interviews.

Consequently, over a three year period, all the post-secondary institutions were registered with the Council and their registration certificate issued.

The Council for TVET is currently a full member of the Caribbean Association of national Training Authority. It became a member of the UNESCO International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (UNEVOC) on August 3, 2010, Walters divulged.

He said too that the Council is also an associate member of the Inter American Centre for knowledge development in Vocational Training (CINTERFOR). In addition, it has established a collaborative and cooperative relationship with the International Labour Organisation (ILO), the Caribbean office of UNESCO and the Colleges and Institutes of Canada (CIC) formally known as the Association of Canadian Community Colleges (ACCC).

Over the years, the Council benefited immensely from the aforementioned organizations by way of attendance to conferences on TVET; the training of staff both tutorial and managerial; study tours; the acquisition of training materials; and the donation of equipment, Walters disclosed.

Links with Industry

The Council’s policy, according to the Director, is to have industry involved in all the various innovations being undertaken in the development of TVET nationally. This includes developmental programmes that are executed by the Council and the delivery of the instructional programmes at the individual post-secondary institutions.

“Industry is, therefore, requested to have representations on management boards and committees; establish partnerships with individual post-secondary institutions; donate tools and equipment to enhance the delivery of the practical programmes; and provide the opportunity for students/trainees to serve short intensive work experience programmes on their plants,” Walters outlined. In addition, he informed that it is desirable for the services of practicing Master Crafts-persons and Technicians to be made available to serve on curriculum Lead Groups and as External Verifiers in the assessment strategy employed to assess the performances of Students/Trainees as they pursue studies in the various occupational programmes with the use of the Competency Based Training methodology. Some of the Master Crafts-persons and Technicians can also serve as guest lecturer from time to time, Walters said. Major Achievements
Among the noticeable achievements of the Council are: the development of a manual for the maintenance of Standards and Quality at Post-Secondary Institutions which has four volumes; rules and regulations governing the conduct of students of TVET institutions; and yet another manual for the organisation and management of workshops/laboratories in TVET institutions.

Of note too was the development of a National Policy paper on TVET.

According to Walters while some of the measures that were put in place are all significant there is still a need to ensure that they are monitored and evaluated on an ongoing basis “and where appropriate clinical supervision employed to correct poor practices so that high standards and quality can be maintained.”

As part of the evolution of TVET in Guyana, Walters noted that Guyana’s recognition by CARICOM to award the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) is imminent. Those programmes for which the CVQ is not currently being offered, students/trainees will be certified by the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ),” he added.

 

---

---