What is the Grenada National Training Agency?
The Grenada National Training Agency is the national coordinating agency for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in Grenada. It is the national entity responsible for overseeing, designing, monitoring, promoting, and establishing TVET programmes to meet Grenada’s skills development needs. One of the main goals of the NTA is to create a workforce that is competent, certified, innovative, enterprising, and entrepreneurial for the local, regional and international labour markets. The Grenada National Training Agency does not engage in any occupational skills training except for training designed to build capacity among TVET instructors, assessors and verifiers.
What is the National Vocational Qualification (NVQ)?
This is an occupational/work-based award that is achieved nationally through assessment and training. NVQs are based on national standards of competence drawn up by representatives from each industry sector, and against which assessments are done. To achieve an NVQ candidates must prove that they have the ability (competence) to carry out their job to the required standard which describes the competencies expected in any given job role. Typically, candidates will work towards an NVQ that reflects their role in a paid or voluntary position. NVQs are available in five levels and are accredited by the National Training Agency.
What is the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ)?
This is an award that represents the achievement of a set of competencies which define core work practices of an occupational area, consistent with the levels articulated within the regional qualification framework. To earn an award, candidates must demonstrate competence in reaching CARICOM-approved occupational standards developed by industry experts.
What is the value of the CVQ award?
The CVQ is a recognized qualification that facilitates the free movement of skilled people through the CARICOM region.
- It provides a basis for articulation and accreditation
- It provides broad-based preparation for employment
- It is an alternative route to further/higher education
- It complements and has parallel standing with academic qualifications
- It provides enhanced employability and higher earning potential
- It facilitates apprenticeship with actual work experience
- It equips candidates with the knowledge, skills and attitudes for the workplace
- It allows previous work experience and skills to count towards achieving the CVQ
- It allows for continuity where a candidate can complete the CVQ at another centre/school if
training is interrupted.
What are the levels of competence in the CVQ Framework?
- Level 1 – Apprentice/supervised semi-skilled worker
- Level 2 – Skilled worker
- Level 3 – Skilled technical able to work independently and to provide supervision to others on a worksite.
- Level 4 – Professional/managerial/ master craftsman
- Level 5 – Chartered professional/ managerial
What do I require to be trained?
The CVQ is an inclusive system that allows anyone to join at any point or level once the individual demonstrates the level of knowledge, skills and attitude required for the particular level of the framework. The system allows for the assessment of prior learning to match an individual’s competence with the appropriate CVQ level. The individual is required to demonstrate his/her competence in his/her skill area through the Assessment of Prior Learning (APL) appraisal process.
How is a learner assessed for an NVQ/CVQ?
Candidates are entered for assessments in specific skill areas. When a candidate is ready, the assessor assesses his/her competence. Successful completion of a unit will be recorded and recognized on an official transcript. The candidate will gain a full NVQ/CVQ Award when all the units specified in the qualification structure have been accumulated. Based on the evidence provided by the training provider and the external verifier, the candidate will be awarded a NVQ/CVQ certificate. Assessments are comprised mainly of the following methods:
- Observation of performance
- Examination of products
- Oral questioning
- Written testing
- Appraisal of a portfolio
How is the NVQ/CVQ awarded?
The NVQ/CVQ can be awarded to candidates who have successfully completed a course of training, job attachment and assessment in accordance with the CVQ quality assurance measures. This may be done in training institutions, schools, or the workplace. Another route for the award of an NVQ/CVQ is the Assessment of Prior Learning (APL)/Prior Learning Assessment & Recognition (PLAR). The APL/PLAR is a method of assessment used to identify, evaluate, and document the level of learning outcomes which an individual has achieved from formal, informal, and non-formal learning. The modality accounts for the learning an individual acquired from experience in the field, attending workshops, short courses, seminars, or conferences etc.
How can I gain access to CVQ/NVQ Certification?
People or institutions interested in being NVQ/CVQ-trained and certified or seeking this service on behalf of their constituents can receive information from the Grenada National Training Agency (GNTA) or from the Curriculum Department within the Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development. The GNTA does not engage in training in skills development but brokers training through Training Providers/Centres. In this regard, the GNTA may recommend prospective candidates to Training Providers. Candidates may also directly contact the Training Centres that are approved and recognized by the GNTA (See Institution Based Training or Centre Approval).
Who can receive the NVQ/CVQ?
- Employees in the workplace
- People with vocational skills who are not certified
- Students/trainees
Where are NVQ/CVQs offered?
- T. A Marryshow Community College
- New Life Organisation
- Private training centres/institutions
- Through projects
- Community based organisations
- Secondary schools
- On-the-Job
Who awards the NVQ/CVQ?
The National Training Agency of Grenada is the certifying body for the NVQ/CVQ in Grenada. National Training Agencies (NTAs) in Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, Barbados, Saint Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines and Guyana can also award the CVQ. The Caribbean Examinations Council(CXC) awards the CVQ to persons in secondary schools up to Level 2.
Where is the CVQ recognized?
The CVQ is recognized within all CARICOM countries.
What is Assessment of Prior Learning (APL)?
It defines processes that allow individuals to identify, document, and be assessed for competencies and skills learned or gained through prior learning. The learning may be formal, informal, non-formal, or experiential. APL can be undertaken for self-knowledge, credit, or advanced standing in an academic institution, for employment, licensure, career planning and recruitment.
What is Competency Based Education and Training (CBET)?
This is a system of education and training that is designed to ensure that upon leaving the education and training system learners possess the requisite competencies or outcomes (knowledge, skills and attitude) that meet the needs and interests of the workplace. It is training which is based on participants’ ability to demonstrate mastery of skills performed under certain conditions, to specific standards.
Why do we need CBET?
- To create a highly skilled workforce in a period of increased competitiveness
- To meet the needs of industry and the workforce which are demanding greater
- Productivity and improved customer satisfaction
- To create a workforce that can keep up with technological advances
- To facilitate the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and the free movement of workers
What is a Competency/Occupational Standard?
A technical specification or code of practice to measure performance or to determine levels of quality. It is an industry-determined specification of performance which sets out the skills, knowledge and attitudes required to operate effectively in employment. A competency or occupational standard specifies what a person should know and do in order to carry out the functions of a particular job in the context of the work environment. Standards are the agreed minimum best practice in an Occupational Area and take into account all necessary statutory requirements.
Why are Occupational Standards necessary?
- To alleviate the effect of globalization by
- Improving the quality of work
- Enhancing workforce competitiveness
- To establish a minimum measure of quality of
- Products
- Processes
- Performance of the individual worker