The Ministry of Education has registered a total of 119 students from eight schools across Guyana as its first batch into the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) programme.
According to a release from the ministry, this was announced by Assistant Chief Education Officer (Technical), Marcia Paddy, at a three-day workshop that began on Tuesday for CVQ Assessors. The workshop is being held at the Guyana Industrial Training Centre (GITC).
The Ministry’s release stated that this batch of secondary school students will be participating in the CVQ programme that targets four disciplines, crops and soil, commercial food preparation, fabric decoration and furniture making.
According to the release, the assessors participating in the workshop are teachers who are already in the education system at the secondary level; these educators will be teaching students and conducting a continuous assessment of their work, to ensure readiness and competence. The purpose of the workshop is to standardize the assessment mechanism to ensure that all participating students can be evaluated in the same way. The final assessment will be done later this year by external assessors from the Caribbean Examinations Council.
According to the release, preparations for this current batch of students commenced in 2019, but were delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “However, with the support and the driving force of all stakeholders we have finally reached this milestone,” the release noted. The release cited Paddy as saying said that Guyana is at an important juncture where Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) has been identified as one of the main pillars of national development.
“Guyana is on an upward trajectory, and skills training forms the core of this aspect of development which affords young people alternative career pathways into industries. With the discovery of oil in not only Guyana there is a greater need for us to invest and prepare our young people in TVET,” the release quoted Paddy as saying.
