The NTA was host to the new Ministers within the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development and Religious Affairs on Tuesday 24th, April 2018. The Honourable Emmalin Pierre responsible for Education and Human Resource Development and the Honourable Pamela Moses who who has specific responsibility for Tertiary Education, Skill Development and Educational Outreach made their first visit to the National Training Agency accompanied by newly appointed Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Finley Jeffrey, outgoing Chief Education Officer, Elvis Morain, and Communications Officer, Daisy Hazzard.
CEO of the National Training Agency (NTA), Kingsley L. Morgan, briefed the Ministers and other officers on the role of the NTA; the achievements the institution has made in the past nine years and the current plans of the Agency. Among the issues he raised were the NTA’s role as a training and CVQ/NVQ certifying body working at reversing trends of low productivity in the workforce; the NTA’s rapid growth as a Quality Assurance resource providing training support to other NTA’s in the region; the need for greater gender equity in TVET(technical and vocational education and training).
The two Ministers in turn, as well as the permanent Secretary commended the NTA for the important work it has done to position TVET as a central part of the educational system with regard to its value in the thrust for social and economic development nationally. They all pledged their support to the continued work of the NTA and Minister Pierre noted that the plan was to hold a National Consultation following the meetings to bring all stakeholders together to move education forward.
Other issues raised at the meeting included placing greater emphasis on agriculture in education, the proposal for the establishment of an Enterprise-Based Training Fund, higher level training and certification, the Introduction of a World Skills Competition in Grenada, the challenge with literacy and numeracy in training programmes, and the need to have a National Qualifications Framework.
