Over 200 participants across the island who participated in a summer programme hosted by the Adult Education Division were given the opportunity to display their work at National Exhibition held at the division’s office in Roseau on Friday.
Acting Adult Education Officer, Francisca Joseph said participants in the event came from seven districts and over 21 communities.
“Today is the culmination of eight weeks of summer courses implemented all over the island,” she said. “We had 21 courses in seven zones as far as Portsmouth to Soufriere and today we are exhibiting what participants produced, what they have done over the eight weeks…”
She said the division has been hosting the event for the past 10 years which helps participants to build their own self – esteem in whatever course or skill programme that they intend to do.
“Today we are quite happy to have the level of produce that they have done and it does well for the Adult Education Division,” Joseph said.
Meantime, she stated that September is Adult Education Month and the Division has a number of activities planned to observe the month. The theme is “Responding to the call for Resilience”
Joseph said a church service will be held on the 2nd September.
“We go to different communities on the island and this year we are going to La Plaine,” she noted.
She went on to say that International Literacy Day will be celebrated on September 7th at the Adult Education Office in Roseau. She mentioned also that a ‘Book Fair’ will be held.
Joseph stated that the Division also plans to host a few radio shows.
She revealed that the National Graduation will be held on 19th September and later down in the month a Family Fun Day is scheduled to take place in Portsmouth.
The Adult Education Division an entity under the Ministry of Ecclesiastical Affairs, Family and Gender Affairs has been given the mandate to develop national human resources through community non-formal education, enabling each adult citizen, group and community to progress and participate meaningfully in the spiritual, social, economic and cultural development of the country.
The Division considers skills training a key contributor to economic growth, innovation and job creation and as such makes it part of its daily programming. That is why for the past ten (10) years the Division has undertaken to conduct Summer Program courses during the months of July and August, as well over five thousand (5000) persons have received training in one field or another.
Congratulations to the Division on another successful summer school program. This program has been an inspiration to thousands of our people, whatever inspired the participants to join a class – be it as a hobby, as a way to do something fun for the summer, or as a means of preparing to engage in a profitable economic activity. This program requires a monumental amount of preparation and logistics using only limited allocated resources, so it is no small accomplishment that such high quality of work could be accomplished in so many occupational areas and in so short a space of time. There was a class in everything from Electricals to West Indian Cooking and Music! .I look eagerly forward to the day when the participants of these vocational training programs could be awarded an internationally accredited certification that would affirm the true value of their efforts and that of the Division as well as the instructors of these courses. Viva TVET!
What about the other communities north of Portsmouth, were they not available? What arrangements would be made for the church service at La Plaine and the family fun day to Portsmouth , would buses be available to transport the people who deserves to go and do not have their own form of transportation?
Wow. Lovely pieces of work. I wish the recipients of such skills well for the future.