An extension is being sought from the Inter-American Development Bank for the Enhanced Continuous Labour Force Sample Survey which is currently being conducted.
This disclosure has come from Director of the Barbados Statistical Service (BSS), Aubrey Browne, who said the three-month survey should have been completed on June 30.
???We had some delays; the survey instrument was finalised late by the consultants. We received the final questionnaire later than we had expected and that pushed back everything, namely the training and testing of the questionnaire and everything else related to it. So, we ended up going into the field in May instead of April,??? he stated.
The survey is being conducted by the BSS, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, under its Skills for the Future Programme, in 120 enumeration districts across Barbados.
Underscoring the importance of this survey, the BSS Director noted that it would give the department more precise estimates for the labour force, as well as additional information on education that would inform the Skills for the Future Programme.
???Field officers are gathering information on how school leavers transition into the labour force so it could be determined what are the rates of return from the education system. That will inform us about the true benefits of education, in terms of preparing individuals for the world of work and for specific occupations. We are also going to look at whether people are actually involved in the occupations they have been trained in,??? he explained.
He added that the additional benefit of the Enhanced Continuous Labour Force Survey was that it would measure some of the additional activities outside of the formal sector that were not currently being measured before and would be considered part of the informal sector.
Mr. Browne said officers were currently in the field collecting data for the enhanced labour force survey and the existing labour force survey, and the results of both would be compared.
He explained that there was a difference between the two surveys in terms of the methodology and the sampling being used. ???We are using a larger sample and different data capture instruments in the field, namely digital tablets, as opposed to the hard copy questionnaires,??? the BSS Director disclosed.
Mr.Browne stressed that the use of the tablets would contribute to the survey results being issued in a more timely manner. He further disclosed that under the modernisation project, the BSS should be implementing the Enhanced Labour Force Survey from next year.
sharon.austingill-moore@barbados.gov.bb