UWI / UNESCO Caribbean

Conference On:
Technical Vocational Education &
Training (TVET)

The Role of Consultancy Services in

Enhancing the Goals of TVET
Presented by
Basil A. Burke, Ph.D.
CEO, UWI Consulting Inc
MARCH 7, 2012

WHY THIS PRESENTATION?

TO ENHANCE THE PERCEPTION OF THE NATIONAL,

REGIONAL AND GLOBAL IMPORTANCE OF TVET
TO EXPAND THE EXISTING RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
UWI, UWI CONSULTING, AND TVET PARTNERS
TO PRESENT UWI CONSULTING AS A HIGHLY
RESPONSIVE, PROGRESSIVE, AND NIMBLE PARTNER
TO PREVIEW TVETS THEMATIC PRIORITIES
TO EXPLORE WITH YOU THE MUTUAL NEEDS AND
IDEAS FOR EFFECTIVE FUTURE PARTNERSHIPS

PRESENTATION GUIDE

WHO OR WHAT IS UWI CONSULTING?

WHAT ARE THE PERCEIVED THEMATIC PRIORITIES OF

TVET?
WHAT HAS UWI CONSULTING DONE FOR TVET?
FUTURE PARTNERSHIP WITH UWI CONSULTING?
QUO VADEMUS?

WHO ARE WE?

UWI Consulting is a Limited Liability

Company (LLC), a wholly-owned

subsidiary of the University of the West
Indies, that was registered as an
International Business Corporation (IBC)
in October 2007.

Our Mission & Goal

Our Mission: To unlock the development
potential of the Caribbean through professional
advisory services and capacity building.
Our

Established Goal: In response to the

expressed needs of Caribbean government

leaders, the Company was established to have

a single portal through which to gain access to

the services of the University of the West
Indies.

UWI CONSULTING (UWIC):

UWI
UWIC

Benign Portal

A to G represent units, centers, and institutes engaged in consulting

COROLLARIES TO OUR
MISSION:
To

harness the intellectual capital

of the academics, alumni, and the
Diaspora to meet the needs of the
region
To mobilize these resources to
address matters relevant to the
regional governments and to
provide solutions thereto.

OUR PHILOSOPHY
There are those who look at
things the way they are, and ask
why? I dream of things that never
were, and ask why not?
-- Bobby Kennedy

OUR PHILOSOPHY

If I believe I cannot do something, it

makes me incapable of doing it.
But when I believe I can, then I acquire
the ability to do it, even if I did not have
the ability in the beginning.
--Mahatma Gandhi

AREAS OF GREAT DEMAND

Education & Social Policy
Tourism & Sustainable Development
Crime Mitigation & Prevention
Poverty Alleviation & Social Protection
Labor Relations & Employment

SELECTED CLIENTS:
ACTI
CARICOM

Secretariat

DBJ
HEART

TRUST/NTA
MLSS, MOT, MOE Gov. of Jamaica
MOE Gov. of St. Kitts, Antigua and Barbuda
UNICEF Regional
UNICEF Barbados

OUR PRESENCE:
UWI Consulting has hundreds of
Affiliates situated across all four
campuses of UWI: Cave Hill, Mona, St.
Augustine and the Open Campus.

1948

2008

1962
1960

200
9

Member

Populn.

Member

Populn.

Jamaica

2,719,000

Antigua & Barbuda

69,481

Trinidad & Tobago

1,339,000

Bermuda

64,500

Belize

310,520

Cayman Islands

53,172

Bahamas

304,837

St Kitts & Nevis

38,756

Barbados

275,330

British Virgin Islands

19,100

St Lucia

168,178

Turks & Caicos Islands

18,122

St Vincent & the

Grenadines

110,000

Anguilla

14,254

Grenada

102,632

Montserrat

Dominica

69,625

Total: 5,685,848

9,341

OUR CAPACITY:
OUR

FACULTY & STAFF

OUR ALUMNI
OUR DIASPORA
OTHER NON-UWI EXPERTS
WORLDWIDE

OUR CAPACITY:
In addition to our registered Affiliates
we draw on:
The Institutes, Units, Departments &
Centers across the UWI campuses
The School of Education, the Social
Work Unit in the Faculty of Social
Sciences, etc.
SALISES across campuses

OUR CAPACITY:
The

Business Development Offices, St.

Augustine; Mona; Cave Hill.
Management Studies Department,
Mona.
Mona GeoInformatix;
The Biochem/Biotech Department,
Mona;

SOME KEY EXPERTS

AARON PARKE
MERVIN CHISHOLM
ANCILLA ARMSTRONG
DISRAELI HUTTON
ZELLYNNE JENNINGS-CRAIG
PAULETTE DALEY
JOSEPH JOHNSON
DENISE GASPARD RICHARDS
CLAUDETTE WILLIAMS
DENZIL WILLIAMS
RANJIT SINGH
NORMA MACFARLANE
WAYNE MCLAUGHLIN
JULIE MEEKS
ABDUL ABDULKADRI
NATHAN RICHARDS
HUNTLEY MANHERTZ
KEVIN MORRISON
ELIZABETH THOMAS-HOPE

LEGAL ADVISOR/ TRADE SPECIALIST

CURRICULUM SPECIALIST
EDUCATION REFORM; MONITORING & EVALUATION
EDUCATIONAL SPECIALIST
EDUCATIONAL SPECIALIST
ICT SPECIALIST
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIST/ TRADE SPECIALIST
SOCIAL POLICY
LINGUISTICS
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS EXPERT
AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIST
BIOCHEMIST
BIOTECHNOLOGY
CHILD DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST
ECONOMIST
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMIST
ECONOMIST
FINANCIAL ANALYST/ GEOINFORMATICS
ENVIRONMENTALIST

SOME KEY EXPERTS

MICHAEL MUIRHEAD
DWIGHT WALTERS
PHILIP OSEI
MARGARET MACAULAY
LINNETTE VASSELL
GABRIELLE HOSEIN
HALDEN MORRIS
FREDDIE HICKLING
MICHAEL WITTER
TREVOR MUNROE
KAREN FORD-WARNER
SUSAN MAINS
JIMMY TINDIGARUKAYO
BRENDAN BAIN
CLAIRMONT KIRTON
DENNIS EDWARDS
CLIVE NICHOLAS
LUKE JACKSON

FINANCIAL ANALYST
FINANCIAL ANALYST
PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS & MANAGEMENT
CHILD RIGHTS LAWYER; SUPREME COURT MEDIATOR
GENDER SPECIALIST AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT EXPERT
ADOLESCENCE AND GENDER NEGOTIATIONS
ENGINEER AND EDUCATIONAL SPECIALIST
CONSULTANT PSYCHIATRIST
ECONOMIST
GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS
TOURISM DEVELOPMENT SPECIALIST
CULTURAL GEOGRAPHY, MIGRATION, TOURISM, MEDIA
RESEARCH METHODS IN THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
PUBLIC HEALTH, HIV/AIDS SPECIALIST
ECONOMICS
CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST
FISCAL POLICY/TAX EXPERT
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY SPECIALIST

PRESENTATION GUIDE

WHO IS UWI CONSULTING?

WHAT ARE THE PERCEIVED THEMATIC

PRIORITIES OF TVET?

WHAT HAS UWI CONSULTING DONE FOR TVET

FUTURE PARTNERSHIP WITH UWI CONSULTING?
QUO VADEMUS?

TVETS THEMATIC
PRIORITIES

To stimulate employment through the provision of

education and training which responds to the demand of
the labour market
To encourage active dialogue between social partners.
To position itself within the framework of the
Governments overall education system reform, and
To be a key part of the support to the Education and
Economic Development Sector

TVETS BEST PRACTICES

(From TVET Best Practice Clearinghouse)

A best practice is a technique, method, process, activity,

incentive or reward that is believed to be more effective
at delivering a particular outcome than any other
technique, method or process.
A best practice provides valuable and viable lessons and
resources to learn from.
A best practice in one country may not necessarily be a
best practice in another country hence the term:
EFFECTIVE PRACTICES.

TVETS BEST PRACTICES

EFFECTIVE IMPLEMENTATION

To harness, document and evaluate practices that are in

place in their country,
To share their expertise and knowledge on What Works
in TVET with the global TVET community, and
To provide TVET practitioners in other countries or
contexts with information on how their best practice can
be reproduced.

THE CAMBODIA EXPERIENCE

Faced with the closing of high-employee garment factories,
Cambodia, through the intervention of consultants:
Responded quickly with an effective decentralized
retraining strategy for unemployment,
Set up the special training fund, including providing

Microcredit

Starting in late May 2009, retrained and gave new

opportunities to over 10,000 unemployed and dislocated
workers

THE CAMBODIA EXPERIENCE

THE STRATEGY
Link skill development & training to local conditions
Select target groups most affected by
the crisis
Disperse the training to the provinces to attract
unemployment out of the cities
Promote and train for self employment

THE CAMBODIA EXPERIENCE

THE STRATEGY

Develop a rapid response training model to respond to

employment crisis
Since 2005, learn how to mobilize local skill training
resources to respond to local needs.
Improve labour market information

THE BENEFIT
Postponed industrial and enterprise closing
Create Jobs and export manpower

TVETS CHALLENGES
QUALITY TVET WHO PAYS?
(Roland Dubois and Koontee Balgobin Industrial and Vocational Training Board, Mauritius)

Quality TVET is very expensive.

Quality TVET needs a relatively low trainee/trainer ratio,
workshops of reputable standards, regular investment in
new equipment, and the maintenance and repair of
existing equipment.
Quality TVET requires competitive salaries to attract
suitably qualified teaching staff.

PRESENTATION GUIDE

WHO IS UWI CONSULTING?

WHAT ARE THE PERCEIVED THEMATIC PRIORITIES OF
TVET?

WHAT HAS UWI CONSULTING DONE FOR TVET?

FUTURE PARTNERSHIP WITH UWI CONSULTING?

QUO VADEMUS?

WORKING WITH ACTI

UWI Consulting has worked with ACTI (The Association
of Caribbean Tertiary Institutions) to develop and redesign associate degrees for the Project Harmonization
and Articulation of Associate Degree Programmes to be
offered by Regional National/Community Colleges in
English speaking territories of the Caribbean Single
Market and Economy (CSME).
The harmonized curricula afforded students at
Community Colleges in the region the option to
matriculate into the 2nd year of a 3-year programme at
Universities. This is a 2 plus 2 scenario. The subjects
targeted were ICT, Modern Languages, and Auto
Mechanic.

WORKING WITH
HEART TRUST/NTA

UWI Consulting contributed to the enhancement of

TVETs goal when it was contracted by HEART TRUST
NTA to investigate: Transition Strategies for

Displaced Workers in the Banana Industry A

livelihood Approach

UWI Consulting used investigative findings to identify

alternative occupation for displaced banana workers, as
well as to design a policy towards rehabilitation of skilled
workers resulting from the retrenchment of these
banana workers.

WORKING WITH CDF

UWI Consulting was contracted by the CARICOM
Development Fund (CDF) to produce manuals for CARICOM
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. The three manuals
prepared were entitled:
1. Mobilizing Financial Technical Assistance from
Non-Traditional Development Partners
2. Legal and Administrative Requirements and
Quality Guidelines for Agricultural and Food
Exports to More Developed CARICOM Countries
3. Maintaining Agile Businesses - Identifying and Using
Opportunities for Success

PRESENTATION GUIDE

WHO IS UWI CONSULTING?

WHAT ARE THE PERCEIVED THEMATIC PRIORITIES OF
TVET
WHAT HAS UWI CONSULTING DONE FOR TVET

FUTURE PARTNERSHIP WITH UWI

CONSULTING? QUO VADEMUS?

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

(UWIC & TVET: COMMON GOALS)

UNSKILLED POOR - REHABILITATION

SKILLED POOR PREPARE FOR EMPLOYMENT
NEW ENTREPRENEURS INFORM AND DIRECT
INCUBATORS TRAIN AND GUIDE
MICRO, SMALL & MEDIUM-SIZED ENTITIES

MANUALS FOR SUCCESS

LARGE BUSINESS FUNDING FOR TVET (?)

CAN WE DO IT?
YES, WE CAN!

THANK YOU FOR YOUR

ATTENTION!!