By Ishmael Dumbuya
The Ministry of Tertiary and Higher Education and National Council for Technical, Vocational and Other Academic Awards (NCTVA) have ended a one day consultative meeting on the proposal to revise the 2001 NCTVA Act under the sponsorship of the World Bank Skills Development Project.
The session,which attracted several dignitaries was held at the Ministry’s Conference Room on Monday 9th January.
Dr. Josephus Brimah, Chief Technical Higher Education Officer, applauded the NCTVA Adhoc Committee for producing a draft document that speaks to the contemporary issues relating to education and training, the National Qualifications Framework, Apprenticeship and Recognition of prior learning among others.
He went on to state that the document was received by the MTHE’s Prof. Alpha Wurie and senior management of the ministry, adding that the meeting was a continuation of the process that started couple of months ago.
In his own remark, Chairperson of the Adhoc Committee, Ing. Badamasi Savage said that the meeting was a very crucial one, stating that the proposed change is very important.
He furthered that the process happened at an appropriate time and encouraged members to embrace change. He described the proposed new name of the council to be the National Council for Skills Education and Qualification (NaCSEQ) as most correct, giving the growing importance of skills in national development, youth empowerment and employment.
Director of NCTVA, Ing. Mohamed A. Jalloh said that several processes and procedures including consultative meetings were to be done if the new Act is to take effect.
He thanked World Bank for supporting the workshops relating to the exercise, which he said has been helping the speedy implementation of the entire process. He added that the process addresses the National Qualification Framework and other emerging issues in the training and education landscape.
Other consultative meetings (regional and national) would be held in the coming weeks.
