C-EFE UPDATE
Vol. 4, November 28, 2013
Presidents and
Principals from
Caribbean Colleges
celebrate completion
of the first ACTI
Leadership Institute
June 2013
First ACTI Leadership Institute for
Principals and Presidents
Twenty-six participants from
across the Caribbean met in
Runaway Bay, Jamaica, to
participate in the first
Leadership Institute offered by
the Association of Caribbean
Tertiary Institutes at the end of
June, 2013.
Using a peer-facilitation
model, the group explored
issues related to labour
relations, governance, gender,
and managing change. They
also used the Strengths
Inventory tool to analyze their
leadership styles and
participated in appreciative
inquiry exercises.
1
The faculty team
responsible for leading the
institute comprised Dr. Angela
Samuels-Harris, President of
ACTI, Dr. Roosevelt Williams,
Past President of ACTI, Dr.
Karl Dawson, Vice President of
ACTI, and Dr. Nadine Scott,
President of Excelsior
Community College. They
were assisted in the delivery
and design of the Institute by
Dr. Joan McArthur-Blair, former
president of Nova Scotia
Community College.
Positive feedback from the
participants included this
comment: “An excellent start to
an important philosophical
discourse that can add value
to the leadership of our
Caribbean Institutions.”
This session was followed
up with an alumni gathering at
ACTI’s annual conference in
November.
Planning is underway for
the next Leadership Institute,
for Vice Principals/Presidents
and Campus Directors, to be
held June 3 - 5, 2014.
Watch for invitations to join
the ACTI Leadership Webinars
which will provide opportunities
to continue the dialogue on
institutional leadership
between the institutes.
 First Institutional Partnership Forum
C-EFE UPDATE November 28, 2013

Entrepreneurship
Representatives from the Caribbean and
Canadian colleges and institutions working to
develop new programs through the C-EFE
gathered in Antigua in June for a forum focused
on entrepreneurship across the curriculum,
facilitated by C-EFE entrepreneurship specialist
Bill Walsh.
Participants worked collaboratively on
approaches to curriculum development that
would ensure the development of an
entrepreneurial mindset from the beginning of
the program. This method is more likely to
ensure success than the addition of a course or
module that suggests entrepreneurship is not
core to the vocational content being developed.
Larry Bergeron, the lead instructor in the
Baking and Boulanger Program at Nova Scotia
Community College, shared his approach to a
student-run enterprise on campus and inspired
a number of institutions to incorporate such an
activity into the development of their programs.
Representatives of each partnership met
with C-EFE gender and environment specialists
at the forum as well to explore approaches to
incorporating gender and sustainability in the
programs under development, with some
sector-specific suggestions provided in an
updated C-EFE partnership manual (available
here).
This forum was an opportunity for partners
from 14 of the 16 partnerships to meet in one
place, and the feedback on the session
stressed the value of the networking between
colleagues from sister institutions.
Acting Minister of Education, the Honorable Winston Williams, Jr.,
(4th from left) spoke to the assembled group about the
importance of skills training. He is joined here (left to right) by
Errol Hodge, Liat; Vier Dublin, National Training Agency, Linda
Cooke, C-EFE; Edgar Davis, National Training Agency; and
Hyram Forde, Antigua State College.
The session was officially opened by the
Acting Minister, the Honorable Winston
Williams, Jr., and featured remarks from the
Chair of the board of the National Training
Agency, the Principal of the Antigua State
College, and the Maintenance Manger from
Liat, an industry partner in the program
development in Antigua and Barbuda.
The next partnership forum is planned for
February 2014 and will focus on developing
and implementing career counseling tools as a
key part of the strategy for educating for
employment.

Forum
Participants
Group photo taken
on the final day of
the forum, held at
the Jolly Beach
Resort in Antigua.
14 of the 16
partnerships were
represented.

2
C-EFE UPDATE November 28, 2013
Support to CANTA
initiatives
C-EFE continues to support priorities
identified by CANTA and to work with
members to develop capacity to
deliver the CVQ.
Since our last CEFE Update, we
have supported travel and
accommodation costs to allow
experts from the region to share their
knowledge with their colleagues.
Using this model, the Barbados
TVET Council has supported St.
Kitts and Nevis with master assessor
training and Guyana with
preparations for an accreditation to
award the CVQ. Grenada’s NTA
hosted a study visit from the National
Qualifications Department in St.
Vincent and the Grenadines and
provided quality assurance
assistance to the Antigua and
Barbuda NTA.
A short C-EFE-sponsored
consultancy to assist Suriname to
conduct a gap analysis intended to
assist in the development of a
strategy to begin to move towards
using the CARICOM TVET system
also drew upon the expertise of the
Trinidad and Tobago NTA, the
Barbados TVET Council, and the
HEART Trust in Jamaica.
As CANTA continues to explore
collaborations with the Caribbean
Examinations Council, C-EFE
supported participation of CANTA
colleagues in a face to face meeting
in Guyana in August 2013.
Strategy Approved!
Strategy consultant Robert Gregory and CANTA
Chair Elphege Joseph celebrate the approval of
the new Regional Strategy Approved!
Strategy consultant Robert Gregory and CANTA
3
CANTA Quality Assurance SubCommittee
The group met in Barbados in late July 2013 to discuss the CVQ accreditation review process, CVQ quality
assurance practices, and harmonization of assessment and record-keeping.
Two CANTA technical officers,
one working with the Quality
Assurance SubCommittee, and one
with the Occupational Standards
SubCommittee will be in place in
January 2014.
A CANTA technical working
group tasked with identifying how to
better harmonize the development
and updating of the occupational
standards that form the basis of the
CVQs identified a need for training to
ensure that all member states could
contribute to the daunting task of
reviewing more than 200 standards
to ensure their currency with industry.
In response, C-EFE supported
DACUM training for 30 persons
COHSOD approves
revised strategy
At their 24th meeting, the
CARICOM Council for Human and
Social Development (COHSOD)
approved the updated Regional
TVET Strategy for Workforce
Development and Economic
Competitiveness and 62 new
occupational standards for use as
the basis of Caribbean Vocational
Qualifications. Updating the strategy
was one of the first and most
significant projects undertaken in the
C-EFE on behalf of ACCC’s partner,
drawn from TVET apex bodies and
Caribbean institutions participating in
the program development
partnerships. Pierre Morin, from the
Canadian Vocational Association,
working in partnership with
Vancouver Island University, provided
the training to two groups of 15
persons in September 2013. In
November 2013, standards experts
Fiztroy Blake from HEART Trust,
Elenor Rampersad-David from the
NTATT, and Dawn Gill of the
Barbados TVET Council followed up
with a 2-day session on how to
develop the full CVQ standard.
the Caribbean Association of
National Training Agencies (CANTA),
and the document reflects the input
of a wide range of stakeholders from
across the region. An official launch
of the strategy is being planned for
May 2014, as a part of a broader
dialogue on integrating TVET
throughout the education system.
At the July 2013 CANTA
meeting, members agreed to provide
regular country updates on the
implementation of the strategy at the
national level.
COHSOD also approved St.
Lucia and Grenada to award the
CVQ.
C-EFE UPDATE November 28, 2013
Suriname launches working group
to develop an National Training Agency
Minister of Education,
Ashwin Adhin addresses the
inaugural meeting to kick off
the launch of a National
Training Agency in
Suriname, in early
September.
Based on the findings of
the gap analysis conducted
by consultant Roy Adama,
the decision was taken to
set up a unit within the
Ministry to establish a
National Training Agency. A
tripartite committee, with
representation from the
4
Occupational Standards Training
Participants (left and below) from the 5-day DACUM training,
September 2013 in Barbados, with facilitator Pierre Morin.
Representatives of NTAs, TVET Councils, CXC, and colleges
practiced DACUM facilitation.
The same group gathered in Trinidad in November to develop their
skills further and identify the components of the CVQ standards.
A technical working group, with representation from each country
and CXC, was formed to continue the important work of updating
and harmonizing the standards.
private sector, labour
unions, and government has
since begun the
development of a work plan.
C-EFE is providing
technical assistance to the
group by sponsoring
missions from established
NTA’s in the region to assist
with plotting the way forward
in Suriname.
 Career Counseling Toolkit
C-EFE UPDATE November 28, 2013

development well under way

During both the design phase of the C-EFE and the
consultations on the Regional TVET Strategy, the need
was identified for more career counseling services to
assist persons in choosing training and career paths
linked to the labour market.
In response, C-EFE launched a consultancy to
develop a career counseling model and a tool kit to
support delivery of the model, with the goal that it could
be used and adapted throughout the Caribbean. Two
career development experts from Douglas College, Pam
Tetarenko and Monifa Ayinde, conducted a needs
assessment in three countries -- Jamaica, St. Lucia, and
Trinidad and Tobago -- in early October, and then
developed a draft model and set of tools.
Representatives from the three countries, drawn from
HEART Trust, the NTATT’s Jobs and Career Coach,
Trinidad’s Youth Training and Employment Partnership
Programme, and St. Lucia’s National Skills Development
Centre and Ministry of Education, then met for three
days to review the model and tools and make
recommendations for revisions and adaptations. They
will be piloting some of the tools before presenting them
to institutional partnership representatives and NTA
representatives at the next C-EFE Forum, planned for St.
Lucia in the first week of February.

Career Counseling consultant Monifa Ayinde of Douglas College works with

Erica Williams from HEART Trust, Barry Williams from NSDC, and Virgie
d’Auvergne from the Ministry of Education as they review sample tools from the
kit (top right). Consultants Pam Tetarenko and Monifa Ayinde on the needs
assessment visit to NSDC (right).

Trinidad and Tobago’s Jobs and Career Coach (above), modeled on a

Canadian outreach bus, takes information about jobs, resume writing, and
career pathing to schools and communities in Trinidad, staffed by two working
group participants, Stephen Superville and Eleazar Noel. HEART Trust meeting
(below).

5
 First seven institutional partnerships
C-EFE UPDATE November 28, 2013

busy with implementation.

The first 7 of the C-EFE partnerships are well
underway, with 6 months of activities completed
by the end of September.
Most of the partnerships saw trainers from
the Canadian partners visiting the Caribbean
institution at least once, and study visits by staff
members from the Caribbean institutions to
Canadian campuses.
Partners were focusing on gathering
relevant labour market intelligence, curriculum
development models, and competency based
education and training. Some core vocational
technical transfer was included as well.
Not only did I learn some mechanics of
assessment and evaluation but the teaching
methodology allow participants to interact
with each other and share their knowledge
etc. This allowed me to experience the
warmth and hospitality of Nova Scotians
and dispelled any doubts in my mind that
this partnership will really be a great
learning experience.
Michael Noel, T.A. Marryshow Community College
Read all of the blogger’s comments here.

At T.A. Marryshow
Faculty and staff from
Nova Scotia
Community College
and T. A. Marryshow
Community College at
a working meeting in
Grenada in May 2013.

At Seneca College
Faculty and staff from
Seneca’s Early
Childhood Education
department welcome
guests from Sir Arthur
Lewis Community
College and the St.
Lucia Ministry of
Education as they
collaborate on a new
Early Childhood
Development
program.

6
C-EFE UPDATE November 28, 2013

Dominica State College participants with Dalhousie University Agriculture

faculty member Dr. Tessema Astatkie participating in Labour Market Information
training (above).
Linden Technical Institute participants in a DACUM training session delivered
through their partnership with the Marine Institute and the College of the North
Atlantic (right).
The Polytechnic College in Suriname, a participant in the second round of
partnerships, meets with colleagues from Centennial College and the Marine
Institute (below).

Final 6 institutional partnerships

established in October
The final six Caribbean institutions to choose Canadian
partners for program development travelled to Toronto in
late October to interview the short-listed applicants.
Interviews took place on October 24th, after a tour of
Seneca College’s King Campus on October 23rd. Thanks
to Mary Fisher, Chair in the Department of Early
Childhood Education for her warm welcome on a cold
day.
Six new partnerships were established:
• T.A. Marryshow Community College (Grenada),
Environmental Sustainability Practices, working with
Canadore College and Cégep de la Gaspécie et des Îles ;
•Excelsior College (Jamaica), Logistics, working with
Niagara College and the Marine Institute;
•Samuel Jackman Prescod Polytechnic (Barbados),
Renewable Energy, working with Sault College;
•Government Technical Institute (Guyana),
Automotive Electronics, working with Durham College and
the College of the North Atlantic and the Marine Institute;
•COVAB (Suriname), Geriatrics, working with Selkirk
College;
•Youth Training and Employment Partnership
Programme (Trinidad and Tobago), Cosmetology, working
with Vancouver Island University.
Representatives from these new partnerships will
participate in an orientation in early December and begin
work on their new programs in April 2014.

7
C-EFE UPDATE November 28, 2013

Partnership selection visit to Toronto. Representatives from 6 Caribbean institutions met in Toronto to select Canadian partners. A visit to Seneca College gave
them a taste of Canadian weather and of typical Canadian college services and delivery modalities.

Marketing TVET -- Week of Activities

in Antigua and Barbuda
A marketing strategy and sample campaigns, designed to
use social and conventional media to attract young
people to training and careers in TVET fields, was
approved by CANTA at the end of August. The campaign
was designed to be inexpensive and replicable in a
variety of settings.
Kaizen Business Solutions and Blue Apple,
consultants working out of Barbados, have conducted
focus groups with youth to determine which slogans and
logos will be most effective with them. Working with the
Antigua and Barbuda National Training Agency, and
supported by C-EFE, they piloted some of the materials
with a week of TVET activities from November 4 - 8.
Traditional activities included guest appearances on
morning television and key radio programs, as well as on
the television program, Labour Matters. Face-to-face
marketing activities included school visits by successful
business persons and instructors who make their living in
TVET-related fields, and a symposium on TVET,
certification and the economy targeted to youth. An open
house at the Antigua and Barbuda Institute for Continuing
Education concluded the week’s activities.
Pencils, posters, t-shirts and a banner all carried the
theme: Re-think Your Success.
The campaign included the development of a
Facebook page for the ABNTA and the launch of a

8
FASHIONMONTHLY November 18, 2013 contest for students who are invited to post short videos
illustrating the campaign theme. Whichever video
receives the most “likes” by mid-December will earn the
creator a prize of $500 EC. Click here to check out the
Facebook page, see photos from the week, and watch
some video footage of events.
Plans are currently underway to hold a second pilot,
using one of the other themes, in Belize in January 2014.
Alternate tag lines include “I think with my hands,” and
“Million dollar hands.” A Caribbean-wide Facebook
contest is also planned. Findings from the focus groups
and pilots will be analyzed and a final marketing package
will be made available to Caribbean stakeholders in
2014.

C-EFE Meetings
in the region
Esther Brathwaite,
Permanent Secretary
in the Ministry of
Education in St. Lucia
(second from left)
meets with the C-EFE
team and Estellita
Rene (left). Susan
Sproule and Brenda
Cooke meet with with
Dr. Wayne Wesley,
Director of the HEART
Trust (top right).
Minister Ashwin Adhin
of Suriname meets
with Craig Morrison
(bottom right).

9
C-EFE UPDATE November 28, 2013
Pre-technology program
inception mission completed
ACCC signed a contract with the UK Department for
International Development to extend the reach of the two
planned C-EFE pre-technology programs to 1,000 more
participants.
In September and October, a small ACCC team met
with TVET Councils, NTAs and potential training delivery
partners to explore delivery modalities for this portion of
the C-EFE, now referred to as the Youth Skills
Development Programme.
The institutional partnership approach will be used,
linking ACCC members with expertise in helping
vulnerable populations to re-engage in education and
training that leads to gainful employment or self-
employment. Each program will combine applied
learning, personal and career counseling, and a
10
The pre-technology inception team (Susan Isaac,
Susan Sproule, Linda Cooke, Marcella Thompson,
and Craig Morrison) meet with Brian King, Senior
Training Officer, at the Sophia Training Centre in
Georgetown, Guyana.
Below, students learn traditional crafts, along with
entrepreneurial skills, literacy and numeracy.
workplace internship, and will be delivered three times in
succession. Graduates will be considered successful if
they move on to further education or into work.
The inception mission took the team to Guyana, St.
Lucia and Jamaica for discussions of sectors of
engagement and linkages with industry.
Currently, the proposed delivery management plan is
being reviewed by DFID. When approved, a call for
proposals will be sent to ACCC members, early in 2014.
The NTA or TVET Council in the Caribbean country will
then short list and interview to choose their Canadian
delivery partner.
 Meet the Gender and TVET Working Group
C-EFE UPDATE November 25, 2013

and invite them to share their expertise

The C-EFE Gender and TVET Working Group was
formed to ensure that the planning and implementation of
the C-EFE program activities are inclusive of gender
equality and gender-sensitive capacity building. The
group meets face-to-face once per annum and holds
virtual meetings two to three times per year to review
program documents, advise on activities, and share
information.
In group’s operating guidelines also speak to
assisting C-EFE partners in NTAs and institutions in
providing basic gender sensitization training and inputs to
such program activities as advisory committees or the
development of gender policies. The work of the group is
coordinated by C-EFE Gender Specialist Alicia
Mondesire.
In this issue of the C-EFE Update, we are pleased to
introduce some of the members.
for youth. She is especially concerned with how schools
engage youth and prepare them for work.
•Shawn Hayes is the Senior Gender Equality Specialist at
Foreign Affairs Commerce and Development Canada based in
Canada, responsible for providing advice to Caribbean
Regional Program, Asia programs (Southeast Asia Regional,
Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, Pakistan,
Afghanistan) and Ukraine Program. Long term assignments
include: Gender Equality Advisor for Agriculture Ministry in
Ethiopia (2 years); GE Advisor for Five Year Plan of Action in
Maldives (1 year); and Cooperant for CUSO in education in
Nigeria (3 years)

• Carolyn Reynolds is an advocate for the

empowerment of women and girls in Belize. As an
advocate, she serves on committees which reviews and
revise policies and laws affecting women, young girls and
children. Carolyn is the Executive Director of Women’s
Issues Network of Belize which coordinates, facilitates
and advocates for mechanisms and services for women.

• Ezra Jn. Baptiste is an experienced social

development analyst with over 20 years experience. He
has worked with several regional and international
agencies including the OECS Secretariat, CDB, OAS,
UNDP, UNICEF, and UNFPA Caribbean Area Office.
Currently he is a qualitative research consultant focusing •
on poverty, social capital, and community development.
Gender and TVET
•Cheryl Hebert is the Gender Specialist at CARICOM working group at
the last face to
Secretariat and is on assignment from Canada as a Cuso face meeting,
International volunteer. She has a Masters in Social Work above.

and over 30 years experience working in gender related C-EFE Gender

issues within the community, government and university Specialist, Alicia
sectors with particular focus on violence against women Mondesire, right.

and children, human rights, peace and conflict resolution,

diversity and gender analysis.

•Cynthia Hobbs has devoted her life to education, first

as a teacher (elementary school, adult education and
university courses), then working in foreign exchange
programs (language and Fulbright programs), and for the
last 17 years at the Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) and the World Bank. In her current post as Sr.
Education Specialist at the IDB, she works with
governments to develop policies and programs to provide
equitable access to education and training opportunities

11
 First new demand-driven program
C-EFE UPDATE November 28, 2013

begins delivery January 2014

A new program, Renewable Energy and
Efficiency Technology, is admitting students for
its first intake in January 2014.
Developed through an institutional
partnership between HEART Trust’s National
Tool and Engineering Institute and St.
Lawrence College, the program will graduate
technicians with skills in designing, installing,
and maintaining renewable energy technologies
as well as in conducting energy audits.
Congratulations to the team for being first
off the mark in starting the training!

C-EFE Team Updates

The C-EFE team at ACCC would like to thank
Kelly Thompson of DFATD for all of her support
to the program implementation over the first
three years when she was our Project Team
Lead, and to wish her success in her new role
as First Secretary (Development) at the
Canadian High Commission in Jamaica.
Lucky for us, Kelly is still connected to the
program as the “shadow” of our new Project
Team Lead, Marcella Thompson, Development
Officer at the Canadian High Commission in
Guyana. We look forward to Marcella’s ongoing
support and leadership to the C-EFE going
forward.
We wish Brenda Cooke, Senior Technical
Advisor for Belize and Jamaica all the best in
her new endeavor, a DFATD-funded program to
develop model colleges in Vietnam. Our new
Senior Technical Advisor, (Ms.) Pat Bidart will
be at work in Jamaica in early January.
Welcome to Pat, who brings extensive
experience in the Canadian College system as
an instructor, Dean, and Associate Vice-
President, along with experience working on
international partnership projects.
Other new members of the C-EFE team
include Nikeisha Sewell Lewis, administrative
and financial assistant to the Jamaica C-EFE
office, and Claudia Holder, administrative and
financial assistant to the Guyana C-EFE office.

Good luck in your

new endeavors
Kelly Thompson,
DFATD (left), and
Brenda Cooke, Senior
Technical Advisor
(right).

12
 Upcoming events and activities
C-EFE UPDATE November 28, 2013

Planned activities to date include:

Green Career Fair. Kingston, Jamaica, November 28,
delivered in partnership with the National Tool and
Engineering Institute and St. Lawrence College.
Partnership Orientation. St. George’s, Grenada.
December 5 and 6. For final 6 institutional partnerships.
CANTA Meeting. Roseau, Dominica, December 12 and
13.
TVET Week of Activities. Throughout Belize, January
20 - 24. Marketing campaign pilot.
ACTI Leadership Webinar. Online, January 30. Topic:
Gender and Leadership
C-EFE Forum. Rodney Bay, St. Lucia, February 5 - 6,
Career Counseling Model and Toolkit.
CANTA Quality Assurance Working Group Meeting.
Barbados. Tentative Date: February 12 - 14.
Industry Linkages Forum. February 17 - 18, Port of
Spain, Trinidad.

C-EFE
congratulates
St. Lucia (left) and
Grenada (right) on
their formal
approval by
COHSOD to
award the CVQ..

C-EFE Contacts:
C-EFE has gone social! Get regular updates on all
Lucie Brien: (Ottawa): lbrien@accc.ca
of our activities.
Linda Cooke (Trinidad): lcooke@accc.ca
Rhonda Garcia (Trinidad): rgarcia@cefe-accc.com
Claudia Holder (Guyana) cholder@cefe-accc.com\
Follow us on Twitter.
Craig Morrison (Guyana): cmorrison@accc.ca
Nikki Sewell (Jamaica): nsewell@cefe-accc.com
Susan Sproule (Ottawa): ssproule@accc.ca
Elsa Sumido (Ottawa): esumido@accc.ca Like us on Facebook.
Website: http://www.accc.ca/xp/index.php/en/
programs/int-partnerships/efe-intro/efe-caricom

Prepared with the financial support of the Government of Canada provided through
the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development (DFATD)

13