One hundred and ten (110) secondary school teachers are now equipped with Information and Communication Technology (ICT) skills to implement Technical Drawing curriculum using Computer Aided Design (CAD) software. This is as a result of training they received through the AutoCAD Up-Skilling Workshop of the Ministry of Education. They underwent this specialised training from December, 2018 to January, 2019 at various secondary schools.
The cohort of teachers, ten (10) of which are from the sister isle of Tobago, graduated from the “AutoCAD for Secondary School Teachers Programme” in a ceremony at the Miracle Ministries Secondary School, McBean, Couva, on Wednesday 6th February, 2019.
While delivering his Feature Address, Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Dr. the Honourable Lovell Francis, noted that technical vacations training is vital for the country’s future development will depend on having highly skilled artisans who can build and create new inventions that can earn foreign exchange to ensure the continued development of the economy.
“Every single projection that looks at this nation, in terms of a developmental path that would take us where we really want to go as a country, that would provide the kind of living standards that we want, that would allow our people to actualise and to be the most and the best that we can be, says that technical training is the direction to go. All the data says it. We have our own Division that looks at jobs now, jobs in the future, projections for what jobs will be lucrative. When you look at what is coming out of the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Planning, it says the same thing. The areas for growth and development are, in the vast majority of cases, in the technical and vocational areas,” he said.
Meanwhile, Chief Education Officer (Ag) John Roopchan urged the teachers to utilise the new teaching technology in their Technical Drawing classes to ensure that their students fully benefit from the curriculum delivery and become the kind of skilled workers that could establish their own businesses and spur economic growth.
Teachers and Dr. Francis viewed several portfolios done by Technical Drawing students from various secondary schools.