Expanding Technical and Vocational Education
—GENEQUIP hosts two-week TVET workshop
— First leg targets training organisations and educators
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, January 23, 2020
The Council for Technical, Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has partnered with General Equipment Guyana Ltd. (GENEQUIP) to provide competency-based training to Guyanese.
The two-week training is aimed at Guyanese with interest in TVET particularly those enrolled at post-secondary education institutions.
Training Coordinator at GENEQUIP Barry Henry explained the end goal is to train anyone who has an interest in TVET skills with competence to earn their Caribbean Vocational Certificate (CVQ).
“What we are going to do is open this training centre to the Ministry of Education and the general public. The idea was that somebody could come off the streets and we provide everything for them, and when they come out, they’re professionals,” Henry said.
Competency-based learning is geared towards enabling persons interested in TVET fields to gain internationally recognised certification, and according to TVET Council Director, Floyd Scott, it is also part of the preparations for the oil and gas sector.
“This programme being conducted at GENEQUIP was primarily initiated by GENEQUIP to ensure that they can create capacity for not only our institutions but also to Guyanese to be industry-ready in any area of occupation with emphasis on heavy-duty equipment machinery,” Scott related.
One of the women involved in TVET, Kelona Carmichael- Clarke said she was excited to see more women come on board.
“I expect a lot of women, and we already have women that have been involved in it, so it’s going to be exciting to see more women come and play a part in TVET,” she explained.
Assistant Chief Education Officer (Technical), Patrick Chinedu Onwuzirike remarked that the Ministry of Education was integrally involved in the process because it reinforces workforce development.
“Workforce development is what technical education is all about. The fact of the matter is a case where we have to shift the way we do training from what we used to call traditional based learning to one that is competency-based to one that is industry-driven, demand-driven, we have to do training to make sure that we are relevant, that at the end of the day the students we are training, the graduates, there is a place for them in industry and commerce,” he stated.
And according to Internal Trainer at GENEQUIP Del Joseph, they intend to be the company to set the example for others on the development of human resources locally.
The workshop targets training organisations and educators for the delivery of improved TVET learning.