Technical Vocational and Education Training (TVET) institutes will soon be offering the Caribbean Vocational Qualifications (CVQ) Certificate. This was disclosed by Chief Education Officer, Olato Sam during an interview with the Government Information Agency (GINA).
Sam stated that, “Guyana has actually made a major milestone in relation to its approval it just received to actually award the Caribbean Vocational Qualifications. That, in and of itself, really places us in good stead in relation to the qualifications framework that all of our young people can now work towards.”
The CVQ allow for the assessment of students’ competence in a working environment. Once obtained, the certificate can be used throughout the Caribbean. It also places emphasis on developing skills and knowledge in a particular field of work.
The Chief Education Officer said that to foster the TVET programme, government has formed partnerships with some Canadian Community Colleges through the Canadian High Commission.
We have developed partnerships with foreign entities that have certainly supported our institutions such as the Government Technical Institute, the Linden Technical Institute that certainly are benefitting from those external collaboration,” he stated.
Sam noted that the all the technical institutes have since accepted the initiative, adding that the TVET programme has been expanded quite significantly.
In addition, Sam pointed out that efforts are being made to ensure that students in secondary schools are aware of their options after leaving school.
We have also done quite a bit of work to streamline the offerings so that young people in secondary schools are very aware of the potential pathways that they embark on through our Secondary Competency Certificate Programme (SCCP) which is TVET- based,” Sam explained.
The SCCP is designed to provide students with skills to support national development. According to Sam, the linkage between secondary schools and the technical institutes provides for a smooth transition from one to the other.
It’s just a matter of supporting TVET education across the board so that it is accessible, relevant and can actually speak to the developmental needs of the nation.”
TVET was created to meet the changing demands of global competitiveness. The main focus is to equip Guyanese with the requisite knowledge, skills and attitudes that will increase productivity and economic development. (Guyana Government Information Agency Press Release)
