By Roy Sanford, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE NATIONAL Council on Technical and Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET) has said that there is a need for a common system of training, certification and qualification, since a large percentage of workers on the Jamaican labour force lack formal certification.
Speaking at a conference on Movement and Labour for the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) last Thursday, NCTVET's Information and Promotions Officer, Angela Plunkett-Harvey, said that 70 per cent of the labour force lack formal certification.
"The Jamaican labour force is often described as untrained, unproductive, and technically unskilled," she stated. "Of the approximately 950,000 persons on the workforce, 70 per cent have no formal certification and training."
She said that recent global trends point to a labour force that is different from the traditional one. "Recent global trends in industry point to a very mobile labour force, a free movement of skilled labour by 2005 and a need for a common system of training, occupational certification and qualification of workers on the labour force," Mrs. Plunkett-Harvey pointed out.
She stated that since the trend indicates that jobs will go to the highest quality and most innovative workers at wages set by the world market place, it is important for the island to implement a certification programme so that "the worker learns defined competencies to pre-determined performance standards."
She said that NCTVET has been making headway in certifying workers in the Jamaican labour force since it was established in 1994. She said the organisation has been promoting "improvement in the technical competence and productive capacity of the labour force by approving standards for use in training and certifying individuals who meet these competencies."
In an interview with The Gleaner after the conference, Mrs. Plunkett-Harvey said that it is important for the labour force on the island to be certified. "Basically, when you are certified it tells the employer that you have attained the required skills that has been approved because we design our operational standards in conjunction with industry employers across the island," she said.
She stated that certification verifies that a worker has achieved the level of expertise needed to work in a certain field. "When you are certified it verifies that you are a professional in the field that you are working in," she noted. "Basically certification makes you a professional."
Since NCTVET was established it has awarded the National Qualification of Jamaica, approved and accredit technical and training programmes for institutions which meet standards established by the government and the private sector.
