March 5, 2008

Accreditation

British Columbia Industrial Training Authority approves plan to offer Red Seal program in Jamaica

RICHARD GILBERT

staff writer

The B.C. Industrial Training Authority has approved a joint initiative in Jamaica to allow construction workers to participate in a Red Seal accreditation program, before they are recruited for jobs in Canada.

The British Columbia Industry Training Authority (BCITA) and the Ministry of Labour and Social Security in Jamaica are discussing the implementation of the Canadian Red Seal inter-provincial program in that Caribbean country. As part of this initiative, the BCITA sent Jeff Nugent, director of policy and research and Lindsay Langill, director of the Red Seal Program, to Jamaica in late December to explore and conduct pilot testing of the Red Seal accreditation process.

The Board of Directors of the BCITA considered a proposal to implement the Red Seal in Jamaica, at a meeting on Jan. 21.

“After Nugent and I came back we presented the findings to the Board and they approved the application. So we are not discouraging persons from writing the exam if they apply,” said Langill, director of the Red Seal Program. “Our involvement, if a large contingency has been approved, would be to send an invigilator to oversee the exam at the cost of the Jamaican government.”

Langill has submitted a briefing to the Jamaican government that outlines the things that need to be addressed prior to writing the Red Seal exam. The government is reviewing the paper, which points out that the standards for trades, regulations and building codes are very different in Jamaica and Canada.

“A joint committee between the Jamaican Ministry of Labour and the Human Employment and Resource Training (HEART) Trust/National Training Agency (NTA) have been collaborating on mapping the Red Seal standard with the national standard of Jamaica,” said Robert Green, director of technical assistance and services unit, with the HEART Trust-NTA. “We have been looking at where the gaps are and developing training to close the gaps.”

For example drainage systems are different in Jamaica, because they don’t have basements. Or, Jamaicans don’t know what vinyl siding is because it would either melt or blow off the house in a hurricane.

“We are in touch with the BCITA and they directed us to find a web site with Red Seal Training Standards. We have completed mapping and will now look at training, which has not formally started,” said Green.

The HEART Trust-NTA, which facilitates and coordinates workforce development in Jamaica, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the School of Business, Trades and Apprenticeship at Okanagan College.

However, “we have not committed to the actual training provider we are going to be working with. We want the best provider in Red Seal training with a record of success, Green said.

A meeting will be held in the first week of March to determine who this provider will be. After that meeting Green will be in a better position to say who they will collaborate with.

The HEART Trust-NTA is also collaborating with employers that have short listed workers, who are competent enough to do the training or sit the exam in Jamaica or Canada.

“We are looking at March to start training. The length of the program is dependent on the gaps identified and the competency of the person entering the program,” said Green.

Initially, the competency-based training will be started by journeymen who have a National Council on Technical Vocational Education and Training Level 3 and five years experience.

According to Jamaican Labour Minister Pearnel Charles, approximately 572 Jamaican workers are expected to travel to Canada in the first quarter of 2008. Most are construction workers.

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