The Technical and Vocational Education and Training Council, also known as TVET Council (TVETC), recently had the pleasure of showing its continuing support for the students and staff of the Bay Primary School.
Members of the TVETC’s Occupational Safety and Health Committee visited the school to present a monetary donation to Principal Merlene Brathwaite, on behalf of the school, as part of the government agency’s community outreach programme.
During the presentation, Chairman of the Committee and Administrative Officer with the TVET Council, Shirleen Inniss, explained: “When TVETC moved to Balmoral Gap in 2015, we felt that we wanted to contribute in a meaningful way to our community. We have had projects with the St. Matthias Anglican Church, the Arthur Smith Primary School, and back in 2022 Bay Primary.”
The TVET Council’s community outreach programme is coordinated by the Occupational Safety and Health Committee.
Mrs. Inniss noted: “When we met with your Principal to discuss how we could help, one of the programmes she presented to us was the Positive Behaviour Programme, which resonated with us because National and Caribbean Vocational Qualifications (N/CVQs) and Core Skills place emphasis on not only technical competence but on employability, or soft skills, such as communication and working with others and having the right attitude.”
N/CVQs, competence-based certifications offered by the TVET Council, recognise successful performance of the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitudes described in occupational standards.
The Chairman added: “We felt that Bay Primary was actually implementing a programme which would be building the very skills we incorporate in our qualifications, and we want to support that.”
During her comments, Principal Brathwaite expressed appreciation for the donation, which was a combination of monies contributed by both the staff and the TVET Council itself, while noting that the Positive Behaviour Programme emphasised respect for self as well as others, and included activities such as bi-weekly talks with the students by Reverend Erma Ambrose, Priest in charge at the St. Paul’s Anglican Church.