CARICOM process for workforce training, assessment and certification.
CANTA Secretariat, Kingston, JAMAICA, October 2005.

Complete document

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgement
Background
The Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies (CANTA)
The Regional Qualifications Framework
Labour Market Needs & Analysis
Occupation (Job) Analysis
Standards Development Process
Stages in the Development of Occupation Standards
Development of Instructional Materials
Methodology for Staff Development & Teacher/Instructor Training
Develop of Approval of Assessment Instruments
Assessment of Learner Competency
Award of Certificate - Certification
The Certification Process
Quality Assurance

Glossary of Terms
References
Appendix 1
Appendix 2
Appendix 3
Appendix 4
Appendix 5
Appendix 6

 

Background

The Caribbean Community, CARICOM, consists of fifteen (15) Member States, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, Grenada, Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname and Trinidad and Tobago. With the exception of Guyana, Suriname and Belize, all CARICOM Members are island states. Of these, seven (7) are also members of the Organisation Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), which is made up of the nine island states of Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, British Virgin Islands, Commonwealth of Dominica, Grenada, Montserrat, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

The seven OECS Member States are considered as one entity because, as a unit, they have embarked on a coordinated response to education reform. This initiative was guided by the OECS Education Reform Strategy of 1991 "Foundations for the Future", and the revised document of 2001, "Pillars for Partnership and Progress." At the same time, it must be noted, that the CARICOM Member States, with the exception of Suriname agreed to follow common strategies in technical and vocational education and training in the development of the Community's workforce, through the adoption of the Regional Strategy for Technical and Vocational Education and Training in 1990.

The CARICOM sub-region has a population of 6,428,493. It is made up of a mélange of ethnicity of peoples devolved of a common colonial history. With the exception of Suriname, these Member States have inherited a legacy associated with the British Colonial and later the British Commonwealth influence on the evolution of their education system. Thus, the technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system that has evolved under these influences, is only now emerging as a unique Caribbean response to the pressures of the global environment.

The Competency Based Education and Training (CBET) model, successfully implemented by HEART Trust NTA of Jamaica, has been adopted by CARICOM through endorsement by the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) for vocational training in CARICOM Member States since 2002.

Adoption of this model by Member States meant:

1) Acceptance of the five-level framework of occupational certification (Appendix 1)
2) Acceptance of the Occupational Standards already developed in the region (Appendix 2)
3) Acceptance of the process of standards development and
4) Acceptance of the process of training delivery and assessment for certification in accordance with the Model

Competency based education and training (CBET) is an education and training system that incorporates the appropriate knowledge, skills and attitudes into the workforce preparation activity. These competencies are based on the specific requirements of the various occupations. The regional system for vocational qualifications accepted by CARICOM is a five-level system (Append. 1 and 2), facilitating the mobility of the workforce in any occupation, over a hundred of which have been endorsed by the VII COHSOD in 2002 (Append. 3). There is agreement at the regional level on the structure of the proposed Vocational Qualifications.
The occupational levels of certification are outlined below:

Level 1: Directly supervised/entry -level worker
Level 2: Supervised Skilled Worker
Level 3: Independent or Autonomous Skilled Worker
Level 4: Specialized or Supervisory Worker
Level 5: Managerial and/or Professional Worker

A number of developments have facilitated regional competency based education and training initiatives. One is that there is already an established Regional Framework for Vocational Qualifications, developed to encompass both academic and TVET tracks, formerly seen as parallel. This framework is intended to facilitate articulation of programmes and Qualifications within as well as across tracks and increase efficiency.

Secondly, a working group put together by the CARICOM Secretariat further developed a regional accreditation or equivalency framework for regional certification of vocational competencies. The following elements were identified for this framework:

" Type or level of programme
" Orientation and purpose
" Duration of typical program
" Credits equivalency
" Entry requirements
" Occupational competence
" Academic competence

COHSOD VII, in October 2002 endorsed the existing occupational standards already developed in the sub region as regional standards for use in training and credentialing of workers and this is an important step in the move towards standardizing training and qualifications at the regional level.

National Training Agencies, with new standards, contribute to the list of regional standards derived using the process outlined in this document.

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