Twenty-two young women have been selected to participate in the eighth vocational skills training (VST) programme under the Climate Smart Agriculture and Rural Enterprise Programme (SAEP) being coordinated through the Grenada National Training Agency (GNTA). The twenty-two will be engaged over the next nine months in TVET training which will lead to a CVQ level 2 in Business Administration. The training will be delivered through Grey’s Training and Certification Centre located on H.A. Blaize Street, St. George’s.
During the Orientation exercise held on Friday, April 16, 2021, at Grey’s Training and Certification Centre, the GNTA’s, Training Support Coordinator, Marlene Finlay encouraged the participants to set high goals for themselves and to see the training as the first step to advanced levels of certification. She also reminded the trainees that they had been given a training scholarship and that to whom much is given much is expected.
Meanwhile, Monitoring and Evaluation Officer within SAEP, Kelly-Ann Cyrus-Williams gave an overview of the programme and impressed the participants with the importance of the value of scholarships in learning a skill and building a career. Meanwhile, David Andrew, Head of the Student Support Service Unit of the Ministry of Education, Human Resource Development and Religious Affairs captivated the audience with a motivational address based on storytelling with a message that anything worth doing is worth doing well; that the trainees are here for a purpose and are born champions.
The six-year SAEP programme which is a government project is aimed at reducing poverty by increasing income flow in rural communities. It intends to address two vulnerabilities: high youth unemployment and the high exposure of agricultural production to climate variability.
In this regard, the project has included vocational skills training to build capacity in 400 unemployed and underemployed youth between the ages of 16 and 35.
The GNTA is expected to certify all persons trained under the Programme with CVQ/NVQ Level 2 certification as well as provide assessment and certification to 60 skilled but uncertified workers.
