Guyana seeks regional accreditation for technical institutes

Guyana will, this year, be seeking approval from the Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies (CANTA) to offer the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) to all technical and vocational institutions here.

Following an agreement made at the last Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) meeting, which looked at ways of improving and expanding technical and vocational skills and qualifications, Guyana is gearing to take further steps in this respect.

Director of the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) in Guyana, Sidney Walters, told Guyana Times International, in an interview on Monday, that the quality assurance guidelines have already been implemented at several institutions countrywide.

This is being done in order to meet the requirement to issue CVQ. He explained that it is one of the priority areas of the council, and he noted that the council has also begun to meet with private sector establishments to promote its work and to request their cooperation in the execution of developmental programmes and innovations.

Walters noted that, at present, all registered technical institutes and supervised training organisations in the private and public sectors are being monitored closely. This is done especially as it relates to implementation of quality assurance strategies.

The council, he said, is expected to continue collaboration with international agencies on matters of TVET, implement the work that is to be discharged by the curriculum committee, and carry out pilot tests on the competency-based modularisation curricula for post-secondary institutions.

According to Walters, focus will also be placed on other areas, including the training of assessors to conduct assessments of students.

Another area is the establishment of a national system of testing and certification, a national TVET certification board, and the holding of a workshop to train persons on the development of occupational standards using the Caricom format.

The Caricom project “Training for Employment” will also be implemented this year, while the council will be the lead local agency in the implementation of the three components of this program — strength ening regional capacity, increasing employment of TVET graduates, and strengthening capacity of TVET institutions. The council will also closely monitor institutions that operate in industries and are desirous of being recognised with the CVQ.

Because of the work that has begun with respect to meeting the requirements for TVET certification, training for the development of the necessary curricula is also being worked on.

The CVQ is a regional requirement, but will be done simultaneously with the National TVET certificate programme offered at technical institutions across Guyana. It will allow persons who would have completed the Guyana Technical Education Certificate course to be reassessed and recognised with the new piece of qualification.

Questioned about the benefits CVQ will bring to Guyana, Walters noted that it will serve to lift the level of technical and vocational courses offered.

The Council for TVET in Guyana has been established since 2004. It is a regulatory body that controls policies and looks at the formation and implementation of standards and quality assurance, among other things, for all technical and vocational educational institutions.

A new policy was recently completed and submitted for approval. It will guide the work of the council over the next ten years. New curricula are also being developed for one dozen programmes, and will be implemented by September of this year.