skills development key

Skills development in this country and the region must no longer be prohibited by outdated thinking and practice.

Saying it was past time to transform such, Chairman of the Technical and Vocational Education and Training Council (TVET) Dr. Albert Best insisted there was value in this discipline complimenting the mostly academic process which has dominated the island’s education system.

He was speaking at yesterday’s media briefing on the WorldSkills Barbados 2020 Competition, at the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation.

“I grew up on an era where children were told to study hard and become lawyers and doctors, but does it require any less effort to become a competent motor mechanic or executive chef? And is an electrician or skilled farmer any less essential to our current way of life? The World Skills Barbados Competition is a vehicle for changing the archaic Barbadian perspective of the ‘bright child’ versus the ‘dumpsy child’ and we all need to be onboard to nurture the diverse career pathways that are becoming available to all of our children and are being highlighted via these efforts,” Best said.

He stated the programme would do much to improve the quality of Barbados’ national TVET system and ensure this was the key to a highly skilled, competent and productive workforce, and to facilitate diverse career pathways.

“The council is presently working on building a dual educational system for Barbados. This is being done through four modalities: the mapping of curricula to the WorldSkills International standards; capacity building training in several technological areas through partnerships for which WorldSkills International is a major partner; the implementation of higher level C/NVQs- Level 3 and above and; the development fo Applied/Occupational Associate and Bachelor degrees,” he said.  (JMB)