National Skills Training Programme continues to produce…
Federation gains 96 more skilled workers
By VonDez Phipps
Reporter-SKNVibes.com
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Fritzroy Wilkin, Director National Skills Training
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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE National Skills Training Programme held its final Graduation Ceremony for 2008 on Wednesday, December 3 with 96 participants joining a long list of persons who had attended previous programmes and now possess the skills to make their lives better.
The 96 participants received certificates in a number of areas including Hairdressing, Air Conditioning and Refrigerating, Computer Applications, Secretarial Studies, Electrical Installation and Basic Food Preparation.
The six-month programme targeted individuals over the age of 16 who are interested in acquiring a basic skill, and served to develop human resource capacity by opening an avenue not only for participants to get a job but also for them to get the necessary training to create jobs.
Director of National Skills Training Programme Fritzroy Wilkin told SKNVibes that the participants performed well and showed the ability to learn quickly and applied their knowledge to real-life situations. He added that this year’s programme offered a wider array of courses in keeping with the changes in the Federation’s economy.
“This ceremony crystallises the objectives of the National Skills Training Programme. It has helped us to assess our performance against the thrust of our economy. What we have to continue doing is to look at the main economic areas of the country and ensure that courses in that area are available. Looking at that, we can say that we are on target with our objectives.
“We believe as a training institution, we should be able to train people for new and emerging jobs rather than heavily depending on importing labour. We have the capacity to improve our human resources and provide occupational opportunities in areas including gemmology, parental training and an increased focus on agriculture,” he said.
~~Adz:Left~~ Wilkin informed that with the free movement created by the CSME, it is necessary to prepare locals in basic skills and equip them in such a way that they may also be able to move throughout the region with skills of some sort of “currency”.
He said the certificates issued on completion of training are only recognised in St. Kitts-Nevis, but plans are on the front burner to introduce a regionally-recognised certificate for its skills training, allowing a much wider scope for newly-trained participants.
“We focussed on the transition from youth skill to national skills programme. We are focussing more on training people to create work rather than just being able to qualify for a job. Another important area is the implementation of social and life skills, entrepreneurial skills and career development which should lead us to the implementation of a Caribbean Vocational Qualification Certificate, one that is recognised throughout the region.”
Wilkin opined that the overall programme was a success although he mentioned that the dropout rate for courses has been relatively high this year. He however noted that management has already been in discussion to establish the proper mechanisms to reduce the likelihood of dropouts, thus retaining more students in the skills training programme.
