Ministry of Education pledges support for new TVET Council

TVETC_LOGOActing Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education & Human Resource Development Chandler Hyacinth has pledged the Ministry’s support for the efforts of the newly formed Technical and Vocational Education and Training Council (TVETC) to develop the local workforce for economic growth.

“The task ahead for this council is great but we must take the lead if we are to transform our workforce here in Dominica and if our people are to take advantage of the many opportunities presented by the new global dispensation,” Hyacinth told the opening ceremony of a Strategic Planning Workshop of the TVETC on Thursday.

“The trends of globalization, the trends in the labour market and the rapidly changing technologies embraces the relevance of TVET. Skills and credentials are the new currency. Building a strong skill base among our workforce is important if we are to be competitive,” Hyacinth said.

She said the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development was committed to the process and would collaborate with stakeholders in “setting policy, direction, quality assurance, occupational standards and classification, accreditation and monitoring.”

The workshop was facilitated by Robert Gregory, a consultant with the CARICOM Education for Employment project, under the theme “Dominica’s TVET Strategy for Workforce Development and Economic Competitiveness.”

He said employment needs should direct education and training and the development of competencies and abilities to detect both present and future priority areas for economic growth.

“If the Government of Dominica has projections for new areas of economic activity, education and training have to be part of the discussion from the beginning,” Gregory advised.

“In the next five years what you will see is a training infrastructure in the country that includes the colleges, the private sector, labour; a country sensitized to the critical importance of a reformed education system and a workforce so certified that it can be used to attract a different kind of investment into Dominica.

“That development really starts with the transformation of the workforce from a low-skilled, low-waged, cheap labour workforce and economy to a high-skilled, high-wage workforce and economy,” he said.

Education Minister Hon. Petter Saint Jean appointed the new TVET Council earlier this year, charged with developing a progressive and prescriptive framework within which to certify, to international standards, the competence and productive capacities of Dominica’s workforce.

The ten-member council: Eddison Henry (Chairman), Stevenson Astaphan (Vice Chairman), Merrill Matthew (Secretary), Matthew Leblanc (Public Relations Officer), Celia Nicholas, Kertist Augustus, Jeffrey Baptiste, Martin Allen, Stephenson Hyacinth and Rawle Leslie.

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4 Comments

  1. lightbulb
    June 18, 2013

    but waiit people.. is this basically the Government admitting it was inncorect about retirement of the Junior Secondary Program?? :-?

  2. Anonymous
    June 18, 2013

    DNO “The ten-member council: Eddison Henry (Chairman), Stevenson Astaphan (Vice Chairman), Merrill Matthew (Secretary), Matthew Leblanc (Public Relations Officer), Celia Nicholas, Kertist Augustus, Jeffrey Baptiste, Martin Allen, Stephenson Hyacinth and Rawle Leslie” Please Mrs PS what is the justification for the composition of this Council especially the Chairman and the vice president, come on. what criteria was established for the compostion Jeffery Baptiste, please sometimes we need to focus on the objective than who we want to give some people a form or sense of public belonging and importance. Why is not celia Nicholas, Leslie of Hyacinth Chairing that important committee. And why is the largest most diverse employer, the Government presented by it recruitment arm the Personnel Services Department. People let us get serious here.

  3. LCM
    June 17, 2013

    Long overdue. It is a positive step in right direction.

  4. I sometimes Wonder
    June 17, 2013

    While I welcome the formation of the TVET Council and proposed future planning, the composition of the Council is still problematic. Where is the representative for TVET providers outside of the Ministry of Education?

    I am afraid, isolating non-secondary TVET providers will be a grave error. TVET planning should be all inclusive, therefore national sensitization should be a major priority. The Dominican populace(teachers, students, parents, politician….) lacks the general knowledge of TVET. How then do you convince the populace that TVET is not a second class education. The perception is still evident that TVET is for the less academically inclined students. Sadly the very same education persons appears to be perpetuating such perception.
    People this is wrong, wrong wrong…….. if we are going to sell TVET we need to do it with conviction, not half heartedly.
    Dominica, I am afraid is way behind in its TVET thrust and waisting time will certainly not be to our advantage; isolating non secondary providers is a mistake….
    How can you allow an institution like CALLS to go under? Adult Education, BTC, Youth Division, and artisians should be part of the action…

    TVET Council your job ahead is great but please plan for a global workforce not a Dominica workforce only. We cannot continue to be myopic in our thinking.

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