 ?? |
| Minister of Education, Ronald Jones will deliver the feature address at the opening ceremony of the Skills For The Future Programme. (FP) |
The Skills For The Future programme, being executed by the Government of Barbados with funding by the Inter-American Development Bank (GOB/IDB), will be officially launched on Thursday, March 21, at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre (LESC), Two Mile Hill, St. Michael, beginning at 6:00 p.m.
A key objective of the GOB/IDB programme is to support the operationalisation of the Barbados’ Human Resource Development Strategy (HRDS) 2011-2016, with an emphasis on improving the quality and relevance of secondary education and the effectiveness of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET). Additionally, it aims to facilitate the school to work transition and improve the level of success among the youth on the island.
The specific objectives of the Skills For The Future are to support implementation of a National Qualification Framework (NQF) that incorporates the National Vocational Qualifications (NVQ) and the Caribbean Vocational Qualifications, and includes a new secondary education certificate: the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC), which will be accessible to all graduates.?? It will also seek to improve core skills (i.e. English and Mathematics) as well as life skills at the secondary level and in TVET institutions.
Additionally, the programme will support the labour market Information System through the execution of employer surveys and tracer studies which will provide feedback to education and training institutions.
Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Innovation, Ronald Jones will deliver the feature address at the ceremony, while remarks will be made by IDB Representative, Joel Branski, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour, Social Security and Human Resource Development, Andrew Cox and Director, Sport for Development (Partners of the Americas), Paul Teeple.
Following the launch, there will be a workshop on Friday, March 22, at the LESC at 9:00 a.m.
The main objective of this is to allow stakeholders, particularly those responsible for implementing aspects of the programme, to understand and appreciate the requirements of the International Financial Institutions/IDB as it relates to the implementation of programmes funded by these agencies.
Workshop participants will be introduced to the components, sub-components, and activities associated with the Skills For The Future program.
The seminar will also seek to garner the necessary support and buy-in for the programme by providing stakeholders with the opportunity to meet and interact with each other.??