The Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) will conduct a Mission in Barbados, next week, from Monday, July 27 to Friday, July 31, to assess the progress of work being undertaken under the Government of Barbados (GOB/IDB) Skills For the Future (SFTF) Program by the Ministry of Education, Science Technology and Innovation.

A key objective of the Mission will be to review progress on the various components of the loan and the Annual Operating Plan for 2015, particularly the status of the Competency Based Training Fund (CBTF).

The IDB team will visit, interact and follow up with partnerships that have gained funding from the CBTF, over the past year. They will examine the self-monitoring indicators included in winning proposals of the three cycles and undertake a desk assessment with the CBTF team concerning implementation readiness conditions.

Additionally, the mission will review current physical and financial implementation progress of Component III of the SFTF and there will be discussions on the TVET Council???s vision of the Employer Training Fund. It will also look at the School Improvement Grants as well as the status of development and implementation of the School Performance Report Cards in secondary schools.

On Monday, July 27, the IDB team, led by Education Lead Specialist, Dr. Sabine Reible-Aubourg and Permanent Secretary in the Education Ministry, June Chandler, will visit some of the winning partnerships as they undergo training.

Barbados Port Inc. on Harbour Road, St. Michael and the Career Development Institute, Lower Bay Street, St. Michael will be visited from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. while the Potter Centre, Building 2 Harbour Road, St. Michael and the Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity (BIMAP), Wildey, St. Michael will be toured from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

On Tuesday, July 28, the team will tour the Barbados Institute of Management and Productivity, Wildey, St. Michael as well as Williams Industries, Cane Garden, St. Thomas, from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m.

There will be other visits to the Barbados Coalition of Services Industries, Building 3, Harbour Road, St. Michael and the Inter-American Institute for Cooperation on Agriculture, Baobab Tower, Warrens, St. Michael, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.

Later in the day, from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., site visits will be made to BIMAP on the Harbour Road, St. Michael and the Barbados Youth Business Trust, Ist Floor, Equity House, Pinfold Street, St. Michael.

A Ganar, which forms part of Component II of the SFTF Program and which aims to increase the employability of young people and better prepare them to enter the world of work, will also come under the microscope.

The Bank???s team, along with representatives of Partners of the Americas Washington, DC and Barbados??? Country Representative, Ytannia Wiggins, is expected to visit one of the participating schools under A Ganar.??The Skills For the Future Program is funded by the IDB under a US $20 Million loan agreement, signed in 2012, by the Government of Barbados.

joy-ann.gill@barbados.gov.bb

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