PAULETTE DUNN-SMITH, the senior director of the National Council on Technical Vocational Education and Training (NCTVET), has been elected vice-president of the Association of Commonwealth Examination and Accreditation Bodies (ACEAB), at the association's most recent biennial conference held on the island of Fiji.
NCTVET is the accreditation and certification arm of the HEART Trust/National Training Agency, and grants the internationally accepted National Vocational Qualification of Jamaica (NVQ-J) to individuals who have been deemed competent at five different levels.
2006 CONFERENCE SET FOR JAMAICA
Mrs. Dunn-Smith's ascendancy to one of the senior posts in ACEAB comes as the international body recognises the huge strides made by Jamaica in the area of accreditation and certification. The NCTVET has already developed and implemented standards for well over 120 professions in Jamaica, covering all the major sectors of the economy.
To get a close look at the Jamaican model championed by the National Council, ACEAB will hold its next conference in Jamaica in 2006, with delegates expected from almost 40 Commonwealth countries.
"The conference to be held in Jamaica is a great fillip for the country as not only will it place our accreditation and certification standards and policies on show, but it will be good for the tourism and hospitality sectors to have Jamaica on show," says Mrs. Dunn-Smith.
ACEAB was established out of the Commonwealth Secretariat in London in 1998 with the aim of providing a high-quality, networking environment for professionals involved in the development of standards for examinations and accreditation.
DUNN-SMITH DRIVING FORCE BEHIND NCTVET
As a founding member of the association, Mrs. Dunn-Smith has been at the forefront of many of the training standards and manuals developed for use, not only in Jamaica, but the entire Commonwealth. The NCTVET is also a full member of ACEAB and Jamaica will be the fourth host of the biennial conference, following in the footsteps of New Zealand, Mauritius, Malta and Fiji.
Mrs. Dunn-Smith is the driving force behind Jamaica's increasingly successful and high-acclaimed NCTVET standards, which are on par with leading countries in the Commonwealth such as Australia and the United Kingdom.
"What this means is that the NVQ-J, which we award, is recognised throughout the Commonwealth and our certified Jamaican workers are able to compete in their field with their counterparts internationally. This is an important aspect of our development as we go forward and face challenges that will come with the impending Free Trade Area of the Americas and the Caribbean Single Market and Economy," says Mrs. Dunn-Smith.
The ACEAB vice-president has been with the NCTVET since its inception in 1992, rising to the position of senior director. She has also had successful stints at the Ministry of Finance, the Caribbean Examinations Council and the HEART Trust/NTA.
