TVET’s role in nationwide development recognised amid BIT 115th anniversary

Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton on Tuesday said Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) is a fundamental tool for employment opportunities and, in turn, the country’s economy.

During his remarks at the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) Try A Skill exhibition at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, Georgetown, he said many countries have used technical training to transform their economies.

The exhibition is in relation to the Board’s 115th anniversary.

“These training programmes are not just about earning a skill it’s about taking people of all different backgrounds and taking them to be successful.

“TVET is not turning back, TVET is moving forward. India and China is what they are because they recognized this early,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton said the Board of Industrial Training conducts its programmes with the aim of getting persons involved in the growing economy. He noted that upon completing the programmes, persons can become employed within the sugar industry, the oil and gas sector, and industrial sectors. Trainees receive training in welding and fabrication, agro-processing, and other technical areas.

This year, there has been significant participation by women, with 60 per cent of 1,300 trainees being women. He said partnerships that focus on empowering women are important for developing technical training programmes.

“That’s a great accomplishment from a society where women were kept out from training.

“Any work a man can do, you can do it and sometimes even better than he can do it,” the minister said as he encouraged women to take up roles in the technical field.

The Ministry of Education, a key player in the rollout of TVET-focused programmes, has also engaged in continuous collaborations and partnerships to develop the TVET programmes in the public school system.

Dr Ritesh Tularam, the Deputy Chief Education Officer (Technical), said the Ministry understands its mandate for the realisation of quality technical education delivery and has established facilities for training in Regions One, Three, Four, Five, Seven, and Nine.

“These are facilities that were strategically, that were carefully redesigned, repositioned so that we can realise the ultimate goal that every single student, regardless of the space that they are occupying, they must have accessing to a skill training [facility],” Dr Tularam said.

He reaffirmed the Education Ministry’s commitment to skills training and technical education.