Education and training must no longer be on political generosity

Nov 01, 2015 Letters

Dear Editor,
Time for Action; the report of the West Indian Commission, quotes “Education, skills, the knowledge-base and entrepreneurship constitute together the human input into the process…”, it went onto say, “More than ever before greater skills, more research and development, more vigorous entrepreneurship are needed to maintain and strengthen international competitiveness…”. Relevance of the two decade old work of that commission is now imposed on our economy and an appreciation of Education as the vehicle for achieving greater social mobility and equilibrium in our society is being acknowledged.
It is time for a concentrated tri-partite consultation between the Ministry of Education, Department of Labour and Private Sector Interest Groups, to craft a diverse framework for training at TECHVOC institutions to ensure demand driven training is provided. Considering the inter-linkages between the world of study and world of work in our society SMART targets must be set to reverse the deflationary trends currently experienced in education.
Demand driven training will enhance productivity within communities/regions, promote growth of the local economies and shift the trend of urbanisation. However, there must be consideration for geography and the availability of natural resources within those communities/regions when focusing on sustainable training programmes. Additionally this will strengthen human resource capacity, providing skills for employment and entrepreneurship and promoting active participation in the labour market. Such focus is essential if we are to guarantee value for money in education, reduce unemployment and achieve equitable distribution of income.
Therefore comprehensive steps must be taken to ensure investments in TECHVOC Education provides adequate dividend to society. This will require re-tooling TECHVOC Education in three critical areas namely school administration, financing and monitoring and evaluation. The issue of School Administration amplifies the need for trained administrators in education with hands-on experience in management and a motivation for innovation and entrepreneurship. Institutions should also have the capacity to fundraise and earn an income through provision of services in their communities/regions, this can provide resources- acquired materials for training. Periodic data analysis should be conducted, research should be readily available to provide clarity of supply scarcity, private sector demand, market needs and improvements to curricula relevant to local requirements. Improvements of those critical areas will ensure graduates are able to participate in economic activities at productivity levels equivalent to training acquired.
Networking between Education and Industry to make those improvements a reality will create the collective support mechanism to training institutions that is deemed essential to reversing the current negative social and economic consequences of education deflation in our economy. Consultations must therefore result in effective planning to deliberately ensure that Education and Training Systems are geared towards the needs of the economy and not political grandstanding as Government seeks to increase youth participation in the labour market.
Dennis Mayers

Latest News

Education and training must no longer be on political generosity

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 20th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Windies break home Test drought with 201-run win over Bangladesh

President Ali sees sports as ‘centrepiece’ of...

Amazon Warriors trounce Qalandars in opener

Shepherd excited for IPL journey with RCB

Romeo Hunter snares Sub-Junior and Open gold and...

Rockstone inaugural Street Classic Championship...

Features/Columnists

A psychological profile of a control freak

Rising Gun Crimes in the Caribbean: Urgent Action required by all

The ends are what matter, according to Dr. Jagdeo

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]

Education and training must no longer be on political generosity

Share this:

Related

Similar Articles

The Glenn Lall Show | November, 20th, 2024

Follow on Tik Tok @Glennlall

THE BLUNT OF THE DAY

Sports

Features/Columnists

Publisher’s Note

Weekend Cartoon

Bridge Watch

Demerara Harbour Bridge

> Berbice Bridge […]