Look beyond local businesses

Graduates of the 2018 graduating class of the Competency Based Training Fund are being encouraged to look beyond local businesses when thinking of generating income.

During her feature address, the Hon. Santia Bradshaw, Minister of Education, Technological and Vocational Training urged the graduates to not only consider local employers when looking to source income. With the increasing demand for technical and vocationally skilled employees world-wide, she noted that there is no limit to where they could go to work to achieve success.

“Just this week you would have noted that there have been significant deliberations with the Prime Minister in relation to CARICOM and being able to ensure that persons who want to either reside in Barbados and work or Barbadians who want to reside in the Caribbean and work, that we make it a little bit easier for those persons to take advantage of the opportunities that have been written into the statute books for so long, but have not been fully taken advantage of,” she said.
Bradshaw went on to remind persons present of the Ministry’s promise to reposition the Vocational Training Board.

“I also take this opportunity to remind you of our promise to reposition the Vocational Training Board to embark on new apprenticeship, internships and training in collaboration with community businesses, master crafts people and international bodies and last week the director met with us and we discussed a range of ideas. We also envisioned some exciting and dynamic new projects,” she said.

The Minister further expressed how impressed she was by the number of persons that became certified through the programme recently as they were the persons that would help propel Barbados on an upward trajectory.

“This evening we have 296 Barbadians certified in customer service; I believe that the National Initiative for Service Excellence would be elated with these achievements. We also have 197 Barbadians certified in leadership and management which is critical to implementing change in the organisations and nation on a whole,” she said.

The Minister went on to note that at last year’s World Skills graduation, it was pointed out that there was a need to have a greater investment at a younger level if they are going to be able to compete on the international stage.

“And that remains certainly the commitment of the Government of Barbados and indeed it remains my commitment as well to the Ministry of Education to be able to take us through to ensure that all citizens become global citizens,” she said.