Strengthening partnerships

THE Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Council has taken a strategic decision to embrace, more intentionally, the WorldSkills brand as a key initiative to promote and create a path towards 21st century competitiveness, social development and economic growth of Barbados.

To that end, there will be a greater drive to strengthen partnerships with Corporate Barbados to host and/or facilitate WorldSkills competitions at three stages – WorldSkills Barbados, WorldSkills Americas and WorldSkills International.

Word of this came from Dr. Hensley Sobers, Chairman of the TVET Council, who was at the time addressing the launching ceremony of the WorldSkills Barbados 2018 Competition, held at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology (SJPI), under the theme “Promoting Skills Development and Excellence”, yesterday.

“We have confidence that a national embrace of technical and vocational education and training will transform modalities, will transform Barbados into a State renowned for high quality services with standards of excellence that are globally accepted, while grounded in our Barbadian uniqueness,” he stressed.

“WorldSkills Barbados 2018 is therefore being launched to give further and greater emphasis on how important skill education and training is for youth, industries and society, by challenging young professionals and career seekers in Barbados to become the best in their skills or discipline of choice.”

The fourth biennial WorldSkills competition will take place May 18 to 21, during BMEX 2018 at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC).

Forty (40) finalists will compete in the skill areas of Automobile Technology, Beauty Therapy, Cooking, Fashion Technology, Hairdressing, Car Painting, Graphic Design and Restaurant services. The finalists will represent the Barbados Community College (BCC) and the BCC Hospitality Institute, the Barbados Vocational Training Board, the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology, and for the first time, the Caribbean Cosmetology Academy.

“Our business model for technical and vocational education and training is transparent and consists of inclusive mechanisms for assessment, certification and the recognition of demonstrated skills and prior learning. It is against such systematic, disciplined and proven processes that the TVET Council develops and awards National and Caribbean Vocational Qualifications (N/CVQs), which are based on occupational standards – all driven by the competence-based approach to education and training.

“Together with the training institutions, employers, educators/trainers, administrators and our other partners in the local education and training system, the TVET Council is striving to create a world-class national technical and vocational education and training system whose quality and graduates can be measured against recognised standards of excellence,” he said. (TL)