Skills training boost – HLSCC to adjust curriculum

As the government continues to forge ahead with plans to rebuild a territory severely damaged by Hurricane Irma, education minister Myron Walwyn has instructed the management of H Lavity Stoutt Community College (HLSCC) to urgently adjust its curriculum to put more focus on skills training for industries such as construction and marine.

The aim is to provide the territory with a trained workforce, he said.

“I have asked the president of HLSCC Dr Janet Smith and her team to identify special areas of training and development needed for the improvement of skills among workers particularly in the construction [and] marine industries, and other occupations that will become most needed out of the damage caused by Hurricane Irma,” Walwyn said yesterday in his latest statement regarding the territory’s devastated education system.

He added, “Immediate steps are being taken to determine the needs related to construction, electricity, plumbing and related areas; and to the restructuring of curricula leading to short courses that can lead to Certificates of Completion and Certificates of Achievement in these areas.”

The nature of those offerings will be communicated within the industries and to appropriate agencies in the immediate weeks ahead, Walwyn further said.

“I know that the urgency of this training [that will be offered by HLSCC] is critical to the rebuilding efforts, and the government is committed to doing its part in providing a trained workforce that will enable the territory to  rebuild.”

The education minister, in the meantime, gave an assurance that Government will ensure HLSCC is back in full swing.

“I have met with the president and board of governors of the H Lavity Stoutt Community College to assess the damages caused by hurricanes Irma and Maria, and to discuss the future of the institution. It is important to note that the Government of the Virgin Islands considers this institution to be very critical to our national development, and will do our utmost to get it back in operation.”

Classes will resume on October 23.

“We are asking all employees of HLSCC to return to duty on Monday, October 9th. Students enrolled in classes that were usually offered between the hours of 8:30am and 4:30pm will commence classes on Monday, October 23th, and the semester will end on December 20th, 2017,”  Walwyn explained.

“Classes that would usually begin at 4:30pm or later in the day will not be offered this semester, and students who are enrolled in these classes are encouraged to register for the same class earlier in the day if their schedules permit. Further details on this will be provided by a representative of the college.”

The minister continued: “As the HLSCC campus on Virgin Gorda has been damaged, we are asking all Virgin Gorda students who attended the HLSCC Virgin Gorda campus between the hours of 8:30am and 4:30pm to attend classes at the Paraquita Bay campus.”