The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

A $4.7m PROJECT was launched yesterday to boost skills training in The Bahamas.

The scheme is a joint venture between the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute (BTVI) and the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB). It will also see facilities at BTVI upgraded.

The money will be a combination of a loan from the CDB and funding from the government.

BTVI chairman Kevin Basden said the project “is a response to the need for filling the gaps that exist relative to a strong technical workforce in The Bahamas”.

Education Minister Jeffrey Lloyd, speaking at the launch of the project yesterday, said: “We are in need of the skills of today and of the future.”

He said the project would have a “transformative” impact on The Bahamas and added that there has been a 30 percent increase in enrolment to BTVI in the past year. That increase prompted the government to upgrade BTVI facilities to offer more trade skills.

That increase represents a significant turnaround for BTVI, which in 2015 was said to have been suffering from a 60 percent student drop out rate, with just one in four graduating within the normal time.

BTVI president Dr Robert Robertson told Tribune Business that much of the infrastructure of BTVI is 30 years old so the loan would redevelop old facilities and build new ones, as well as helping to improve the energy efficiency of BTVI as a whole.

He said instructors would also be retrained as part of the project, adding “the loan is important for both the physical side and the human side of BTVI”.

Deidre Clarendon, division chief for the social sector division at the CDB, said that skills development is very important. She said a skills gap is very noticeable not just in The Bahamas but all around the world. She noted this was very evident in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian when “a whole slew” of skilled labour was needed in a short space of time.

She said: “Technical education is critical for the economic and social development of The Bahamas. It also ensures that you marry the academic with the technical. We think that every child should be exposed to some form of technical education.”

Ms Clarendon went on to say that the loan will go towards the development of the physical environment of the BTVI and the purchasing of new furniture and equipment. She added that the loan will go towards enhancing he governance structure of the BTVI and also changing the gender stereotyping of courses on which sex should take what trade, for example women would be more comfortable going into masonry and carpentry and men more comfortable in cosmetic and grooming trades.

Ms Clarendon said she expects within the next few weeks that there would be procurement launches and scopes of work advertised, and stressed that yesterday was just the launch of the project.

Mr Basden said within the next two years he sees BTVI offering more certification programmes and in particular more international partnerships on certification. He said partnerships with City and Guilds and the Cisco Academy is proof BTVI is moving in the right direction.

He also said that within the next two to three weeks, BTVI expects to sign an agreement that would allow Valencia College in Florida to accept BTVI’s two-year degree programme.