Minister of Tertiary Education and Skills Training Fazal Karim has called on the business sector to stop importing labour. Karim said businesses can tap into Trinidad’s bank of skilled, trained individuals rather than source employees from outside. The call was made by Karim as he delivered the feature address at the Metal Industries Company technology graduation ceremony at the Centre of Excellence, Macoya on Friday.
A total of 3,200 men and women graduated in training programmes in hospitality, masonry, carpentry, plumbing, welding and industrial craft. In hospitality, there were 950 graduates, while 1,384 individuals were trained to work in the construction sector.
The graduates received technical and vocational training under the National Skills Development Programme, Industrial Craft Programme, Multi-Sector Skills Programme and the Helping You Prepare for Employment programme; all of these fall under Karim’s ministry. Karim told employers there was “no need to import labour when we have skilled graduates right here.”
While employers have raised the issue of a labour shortage, Karim said they were not specific in giving numbers: “They must tell us where the shortage of labour is. We want the data.” In April, prominent businessmen Arthur Lok Jack called on the Government to promote the orderly importation of labour to address local labour shortages.
To address this, Karim has started an Employers Round Table Discussion, where he meets with several employers and businessmen to discuss skills and training needs, and to eliminate mismatches of skills. Karim said technical and vocational training were key components for a nation’s development.
“In fact, technical and vocational training are becoming more relevant [than academia]. There is currently a BSc in technical and vocational education and training; and, soon to be launched, a Doctor of Philosophy in the same area,” he said. Karim called for equality between those pursing technical/vocational programmes and academic ones.
To monitor development of graduates, Karim said a tracer study was needed to track what jobs they obtained and how they progressed after a year or two of receiving training.
