Secretary of the Dominica TVET council, Merrill Matthew, has said that skills and credentials are the currency of today.
He pointed out it must be recognized that skills are in great demand in today’s world.
“We need to understand in the world system skills and credentials are the currency for today,” he said at a consultation on the National Technical Vocational Educational Training (TVET) program Curriculum held at the Fort Young Hotel on Tuesday. “It’s what skills you have, it’s what credentials you have that attach that give you access into development, into success, into progress, into affluence.”
He continued, “No longer do we live in the day when you could go for a job interview and say I have 8 GCE’s. What does that mean? And so people today are legitimately asking the question, yes I see you have 8 CXC’s but I am interested in what can you do. What is your skill set? What can you bring into my company? What can I employ you to do?”
Additionally he noted that an employer might say, “I cannot employ you to CXC, I cannot employ you to GCE but I can employ you as an auto mechanic because you can take care of my fleet of cars.”
Meantime Matthew is lamenting the fact that graduates from the Faculty of Applied Arts and Technology and TVET struggle to get appointment as teachers in secondary schools, “because they are missing one of the four GCE or CXC subjects that the Ministry of Education requires.”
He believes that the ministry should rethink its philosophy.
“Maybe the Ministry of Education needs to rethink what am I looking for and start focusing on the knowledge, skills and attitudes that the graduates from TVET come with,” he remarked. “Maybe the private sector need to do more like what the Builders and Contractors Association have been doing for a while now. They give a scholarship to a deserving student in TVET every year at the Dominica State College, why because they believe in TVET.”
Educational institutes must recognize that credentials, skills, qualifications are absolutely necessary in today’s employment.
Times have changed. Those days when a certain piece of paper, while important, is necessary to obtain a job, is long gone.
It is getting more difficult to land a job as only a graduate.
There are certain skilled jobs that cannot be taught overnight, so-to-speak. They must be learned and practiced over a period of time.
Employers are seeking experienced staff. It appears they do not have time to train staff and view some training as costly. It is to their benefit if they already possess qualifications as skilled workers.
I will inform you, this technological age and more to come has wrought this upon us.
What are the four subjects requirements?
Skills: yes, I agree!
However, a skill cannot be acquired in six weeks or six months. Fifty-five years ago I served an indentured seven year apprenticeship in mechanical engineering. Even after that, I was not considered fully qualified. A period of “journey-man” had to follow in order to gain more experience.
During my apprenticeship, I worked from 7.00am to 5.00pm and attended night school three evenings a week. I started work at the age of fifteen and it was not until I was eighteen that I earned enough to cover the cost of my bus fares.
As an adult, I have spent many years learning additional skills in boat building and the creative arts.
I don’t have a degree, but I have a skills. And by the way, my hands get dirty!
A mechanic is not a mechanical engineer; one can become a skilled mechanic – modifying, repairing equipment or machinery or an engineer who uses scientific principles to solve problems of social necessity or both. From your proposition, you probably are a mechanic.
Dear Winston,
I can assure you that I am qualified, not only as a precision mechanical engineer, but as a design engineer. You are welcome to visit my workshop for a better understanding.
Regards,
Roger
No Mr. Burnette is actually a Mechanical Engineer, among other things, and im sure he can still fix you car as well if you need it. And he is right, students need to begin learning skills from 1st form, maybe even before they do Common Entrance (idk whats its being called these days). 6 weeks or 6 months is not enough. you need years of training. the earlier you start the better. To master your trade you need to devote time and energy. let them start early.
Doctors and lawyers though important are a cost of operations and don’t build a country. Skills, engineering, and technical expertise build companies, products, and create jobs, eg cars, electronics, construction, etc…..
We have very few skilled workers in Dominica but plenty of lawyers and doctors. The problem with these lawyers and doctors in Dominica is that one is more incompetent than the other. If they where any good do you think they still would be in the country?
I agree with you 100% Mr.Matthew. It’s good that you’re talking about changes in the job market in terms of having the needed skill set.