Ministry of Education: Tech/voc training standardised

The Education Ministry said the five major existing technical vocational education and training (TVET) institutions will now be offering courses only in their specifically assigned sector or subsector for sustainable development, using standards to design curricula with continuous external monitoring by the National Training Agency (NTA).

In a statement on Tuesday, the ministry said the approach was the result of a rationalisation exercise approved by Cabinet as part of the ministry’s revitalisation of TVET across the education sector, which is one of the pillars of the National Education Policy 2023-2027.

The ministry said the five main public TVET institutions – the MIC Institute of Technology (MIC-IT), University of TT (UTT), the National Energy Skills Centre (NESC), the Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP) and the College of Science, Technology and Applied Arts (COSTAATT) – had expanded their course offerings over time, resulting in significant duplication and non-standardisation of course content.

The institutions have now been aligned to 19 sectors for national development based on a comprehensive evaluation of each TVET provider’s institutional capacity and capabilities, with the programmes and courses being standardised.

The ministry said the rationalisation exercise would increase ease of articulation between institutions, maximise the Government’s investment and provide the widest range of options for TVET study.

The ministry said it continued to refine and develop TVET education in an effort to provide clarity on progressive training opportunities for students who want a professional career in the technical and vocational sector.

The areas of specialisation of each institution can be accessed on the ministry’s website at: https://moe.gov.tt/agencies/#tvet.