As part of the transition to English as the language of instruction at St. Eustatius, an educational delegation from Caribbean Netherlands recently paid a two-day visit to the headquarters of NCTVET (National Council Technical Vocational Educational Training) in Kingston, Jamaica. The visit was primarily intended to provide a good picture of vocational education in the Caribbean, where Jamaica is a pioneer: a large part of the Jamaican qualification files (descriptions of course contents) has been recognized by CARICOM and taken over by the remaining 15 Member States.
The institute NCTVET is responsible for the qualification files, curricula and school institutions and recognition pathways in secondary vocational education. During meetings with vocational specialists delegates have gathered a lot of information about the organization and structure of vocational education, exams, legislation, competence teachers, membership NCTVET, costs and more.
Part of the program in Jamaica was also a visit to the Heart College of Construction: a vocational school that offers polytechnic courses and has a close partnership with SENAI (National Vocational Education) from Brazil. It was a very informative visit in which the first steps have been taken to work with regional educational organizations for the vocational education at St. Eustatius and Saba.