More Than 600 Regional Trainers to Benefit from VTDI Training Programme

More than 600 trainers in Jamaica and the wider Caribbean are poised to benefit from training to be facilitated under a partnership between the Vocational Training Development Institute (VTDI) and the Commonwealth of Learning, for which discussions are under way.

Principal of the VTDI, Dr. Delize Williams, made the disclosure while addressing the Institute’s graduation ceremony on Wednesday (February 12) at The Jamaica Pegasus hotel in New Kingston.

Some 240 persons graduated from various VTDI undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

Dr. Williams said the partnership recently facilitated the training of 36 VTDI employees in preparing for blended technical and vocational education and training (TVET) instruction.

“The participants were capacitated to facilitate courses using blended learning approaches and technologies while integrating AI and gamification in the training process,” she said.

Dr. Williams said some of the VTDI clients over the past year included the Caribbean Military Academy (CMA); Jamaica Defence Force (JDF); Ministry of National Security; Jamaica Tertiary Education Commission; Electoral Commission; the Ministry of Education, Skills, Youth and Information, and HEART/NSTA Trust.

The Institute was established to train instructors to deliver vocational education in the private and public sectors; retrain and upgrade the skills of workers for employment and production; and prepare, develop and document industrial vocational training syllabuses, standards, manuals and literature for use in the public and private sectors.

The VTDI is also mandated to train and certify students and workmen at all levels and grades.

“Not only does the VTDI impact Jamaica’s growth agenda by offering standard programmes such as degrees and graduate programmes, the VTDI also offers short courses and customised training interventions in response to the needs of the public and private sectors,” Dr. Williams indicated.

“Agility, leadership and responsiveness continue to be among VTDI’s hallmarks. As we advance TVET in Jamaica and the Caribbean, specifically in the area of blended TVET, the VTDI is becoming an ambassador,” she added.

The VTDI was established in 1970 with the assistance of the International Labour Organization (ILO), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Government of Jamaica.

Since 1990, the VTDI has been managed by the HEART/NSTA Trust and has been described as the agency’s tertiary arm.

The institute has expanded its original mandate of solely providing a diploma in technical and vocational education and training, by offering programmes to the postgraduate diploma level.

The Competency Based Education and Training approach (CBET) is employed when designing, delivering and assessing programmes.