Vocational and technical training to expand
Just about everyone would agree that Belize needs more jobs, but what good are more career opportunities in growing fields like tourism unless young people can acquire the skills needed for the job? This week educators are examining this very issue and how to create centers for employment and vocational training that will address the needs of our changing economy. Janelle Chanona reports.
Lauren Burgess, CET Counselor
“Well what happens is that the word vocation world wide has a stigma. People always feel and believe that if you can’t do anything, or if you’re dumb…in Belize we sey yu stupid, you dumb, the bway caan lawn, the bway gat sal head, send a go lawn fu do something with he hand. But it doesn’t matter. The word vocation doesn’t matter, to me, if you’re a doctor that’s your vocation, if you’re a teacher that’s your vocation.”
Cecil Reneau, Chief Education Officer
“Vocational and technical education is for all students because eventually students come out of school and look for jobs and if they don’t have the requisite skills, then their likelihood of gaining employment is limited.”
Erasing the stigma from the term vocational education is only one of the issues the Ministry of Education is discussing at its National Conference on Vocational and Technical Training. The conference is the second phase a national project aimed at improving Belize’s technical and vocational schools. One of the first steps is to set up centers for employment training in each district.
Cecil Reneau
“Our intent is to work very closely with business and industry therefore we can’t duplicate what we have in Belize City say in Cayo or Corozal because the economic conditions and economic activity within each district differ. For example, when you go to say Punta Gorda, we have to do an analysis of the industries that are there and their needs. Government has clearly stated that tourism and agriculture are two of the productive sectors that are targeted for economic growth. We must analyze those sectors very carefully to see what the training needs of those sectors may be, the kind of a workforce they need.”
“One of the things that has always been looked at by funding agencies is the high cost of technical and vocational training. I tend to argue that good vocational programs, they are high in cost initially because of the kind of equipment that they need, but the cost is much higher if you don’t have those programs because you can’t attract businesses, you can’t attract industry into the country because of the absence of a skilled workforce.”
In Belize the absence of a skilled workforce may be due to the limited resources of many students who would like to pursue their education beyond elementary school. To ensure that no one is turned away from any secondary or tertiary level institution because of need, the Ministry is working to obtain financing from international sources. Mexican Government has already promised to assist.
Janelle Chanona for News Five.
Three technical and vocational teachers from Cuba will be helping the Ministry and CET educators set up the new district centers which the Ministry says should be up and running by early next year.
