Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Elisabeth Harper, convened a meeting last Thursday to discuss matters related to ensuring that the process of obtaining a Skills Certificate is “hassle free, transparent and accountable,” the Government Information Agency (GINA) said in a news release.
The meeting which saw the participation of the ministries of Education; Culture, Youth and Sport; the Immigration Department; the University of Guyana; and GINA addressed the number of skills certificates issued and the process of determining the equivalence of certificates by the National Accreditation Council.
It also focused on the issuance of the Caribbean Vocational Qualification Certificate (CVQ) and the process of verification of the non-graduate category (artistes, musicians and sportspersons) by the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport.
Additional discussion dealt with the problems that are encountered by the ministry regarding the timely issuance of the Free Movement of Skills Certificate, the release stated.
It was noted that as of 2006, the established criteria on the issuing of certificates incorporated university graduates, artistes, musicians, sportsmen, media workers, holders of associate degrees, diplomas, the Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (two modules) certificate or the equivalent, registered nurses and trained teachers.
In June, the Caricom Heads of Government Conference saw agreement of regional leaders to the addition of domestic workers and artisans (masons, plumbers, and mechanics, air conditioning and refrigeration technicians, cosmetologists) to the list, upon the award of the Caribbean Vocation Qualification Certificate, to be administered under the auspices of the Ministry of Education.
Since 2007 until October 2009, 2,576 certificates were issued, 1,975 to university graduates, 54 to musicians, 104 to artistes, 39 to media workers, 53 to sports persons, 26 to registered nurses, 97 to trained teachers and 228 to holders of associate degrees.
From January 1, 2010, household domestics who have obtained a CVQ or equivalent qualification will be allowed to move. The certification can be acquired upon the payment of $1,500 to process the application, and this administration fee will go into a contingency fund.
Importantly, every month, the release noted, the Caricom Secretariat is furnished with a breakdown of statistics and related information regarding the rewarding of certificates.
Critical to the fluency of the process is ensuring that the methodological application system is unclogged by administrative hindrances, the release added.
It was emphasized too that procedurally, the application process begins and ends at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, while involving the National Accreditation Council and specific governing entities, to verify authenticity of qualifications, such as the Press Association for media workers, or the University of Guyana for graduates.
There was great concern about the accreditation process and ensuring that the application process is hassle free, facilitating actual free movement.
It was emphasized that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is ultimately responsible for overseeing the applications for skills certificates.
On the matter of the issuance of CVQs to artisans, it was accepted that training of assessors is critical to evaluate the level of skill of artisans who apply for certification, to ensure that they are appraised on the level of their practical ability.
In that regard, a theoretical test will not be administered but a competency-based examination, capturing persons on the borderline, without a certificate, will be the mode of measurement in this field.
Meanwhile, a further development emerging from the meeting dealt with formalizing the procedural aspect of musicians and artistes.
The Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport will accept the technical assistance of the Caricom Secretariat in setting up a more detailed valuation process for persons applying to the ministry on the grounds of being musicians and artistes, the release concluded.
