A UNIFORM Caribbean skills training standard is now being developed through the Caribbean Association for National Training Agencies (CANTA).
The new body was itself established through an agreement invol-ving Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados, at the launch of 'Skills Jamaica 2003' at the National Indoor Sport Centre, at the national Stadium in Kingston last Thursday.
The agreement will see the creation of a uniform Caribbean skills qualification that will facilitate easier movement of skilled labour across national borders. This is in preparation for the Caribbean Single Market Economy (CSME), which is set to come into effect in 2005.
"CANTA will be concerned with setting and monitoring the standards for skills training in the Caribbean," said HEART/NTA communications director Mark Thomas. The memorandum was signed by the heads of the national training and vocational agencies of the three founding members. The Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) is also set to come onboard as soon as it finalises the establishment of its own training agencies.
