Local technical institutes eying help from Trinidad counterpart

(Seated L-R) Anthony Hector, Principal – Linden TI; Fiona Rassoul, Principal – New Amsterdam TI; Kern Dass, President – NESC-TI and Renita Duncan, Principal – Government TI. (Standing L-R) Troy Farrell – Senior Lecturer, Linden TI; Michael Jacque, Deputy Principal – New Amsterdam TI; Indra Ramroop-Ramkissoon, Dean – NESC’s School of Continuing Education and Revon Thornman – Lecturer, Georgetown TI.

(Trinidad Guardian) NESC Technical Institute (formerly National Energy Skills Center) signed Statements of Intent with three Guyanese technical institutes on Wednesday at the culmination of a three-day visit to Trinidad by principals and faculty from Guyana.

The three institutions have each agreed to enter discussions with NESC-TI regarding collaboration on the development and conduct of a needs assessment of unskilled and semi-skilled workers, the establishment of a system of competency assessment and skills development as well as other related initiatives to address Guyana’s labour training needs.

A six-member delegation comprising the principal and one member of faculty each from Govern-ment Technical Institute, Linden Technical Institute and New Amsterdam Technical Institute visited Trinidad at the invitation of NESC-TI as it continues its thrust to promote technical vocational skills training regionally.

“Regional collaboration in technical education is a learning process for us all and NESC is available to support and enhance efforts aimed at contributing to the development of technical skills,” said Kern Dass, NESC-TI President at the signing ceremony last Wednesday.

The visiting delegation had the opportunity to tour NESC-TI campuses at Point Lisas, Ste Madeleine and Woodford Lodge, Cha-guanas as well as interact with subject matter experts in welding, drilling rig operations, electrical and instrumentation and IT.

“I am excited about the opportunity to collaborate with NESC-TI again. Training in drilling rig operations and instrumentation and process control are areas for development in Guyana and I am sure our collaboration will benefit both Guyana and Trinidad and Tobago,” said Anthony Hector, Principal of Linden Technical Insti-tute. NESC-TI has already made inroads in training in Guyana. In 2022, ten instructors from Linden Technical Institute graduated with diplomas in Heavy Equipment from NESC.