MEET JUDE HECTOR
“My name is Jude Hector, the Executive Director for Adult & Teen Challenge Grenada (ATCG). Our mission is to provide drug prevention and rehabilitation services to youths and adults. This involves character development, skills training, counseling, and other life enhancement programs. I have been involved in youth development and skills training for several years, having worked with youths in a variety of development projects across various sectors.”
In January 2021, ATCG was awarded a UKaid grant from SkYE to train 60 disadvantaged young persons at CVQ Level II in Crop Production, Apiary and Rabbit Rearing.
Despite his previous experience, it is only now that Jude can note, “I am a recently certified instructor under the SkYE funded GNTA capacity building initiative”. This offered training in Competency Based Education and Training (CBET), which is a basic requirement for all TVET trainers.
BETTER TRAINERS – BETTER TVET
“My motivations for participating in the GNTA Capacity Building Training were two-fold”, Jude explains. “First, the training provided an opportunity to continue the path of personal and professional development. My ability to add value to the beneficiaries of our program depends on increasing my personal capacity and that of my team. The training provided knowledge and skills that have strengthened my ability to facilitate TVET / CVQ programs as well as assist others in doing the same. The practice lessons were very useful in helping me to develop some core competencies of classroom instruction.
“Secondly, it was an avenue to gain in-depth knowledge about the operations of the Grenada National Training Agency (GNTA) and how training providers can support the development of the national workforce through TVET training. This was truly transformational for me and I now have the ability to engage the GNTA in a more informed way as I lead the planning and implementation of TVET training for my organization. Having concluded the training, I am in a much better position to direct and lead our staff and students in the current SkYE program and other subsequent national TVET programmes.”
TRAINING FOR SUSTAINABLE LIVELIHOODS
Looking ahead, Jude declares, “I am committed to seeing trainees attain success beyond this training, either through personal business ownership or by securing meaningful employment. I am convinced that our current focus on producing Crop Producers, Apiarists and Rabbit Farmers is the path to sustainably enhancing and enriching lives and livelihoods at the community level.”
FACTS
Skills for Youth Employment (SkYE) is a four-year, UKaid funded programme to provide certified skills training for 6,000 disadvantaged young people, including those challenged by disability, in four Eastern Caribbean countries: Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent & the Grenadines. The Programme will develop a more productive and inclusive workforce in sectors with good economic growth potential.
SkYE is supporting national training authorities and training providers to make systemic improvements to the development, delivery and quality assurance of technical, vocational education and training (TVET) in the four focus islands through targeted capacity building.
