YTEPP’s Retraining Department seeks to develop a cadre of potential workers trained to industry standards and adaptable to changing industry needs and the changing environment. The programme focuses on re-tooling and re-skilling unemployed, under-employed, retrenched or displaced persons between the ages 25-60 years who need to acquire a new skill or be retrained in order to enter/re-enter the job market.
YTEPP Retraining is portable, flexible and national in scope. The programme provides Technical Vocational Skills training and Life Skills training, executed from various centres in rural and urban communities throughout Trinidad and Tobago. Emphasis is placed on the development of positive work habits and attitudes, as well as the acquisition of entrepreneurial, interpersonal and communication skills. The courses are designed to equip persons with new and transferable skills and to develop in them, the necessary competencies required to function efficiently and effectively in the job market through wage employment or self-employment.
Class sizes range from 10 to 15 trainees so as to ensure highly individualized instruction, thereby providing ample opportunity for optimal performance. The training is largely hands-on and competence-based. Individuals experience a combination of coaching – one-on-one and group facilitation.
Training is offered at Levels 1, 2 and 3 in a wide range of occupational areas. Trainees are assessed and certified to National or Regional Occupational Standards through the Trinidad and Tobago National Vocational Qualification (TTNVQ) or the Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ), issued by the National Training Agency (NTA) of Trinidad and Tobago.

Rehabilitating Inmates through Training and Retraining

The Rehabilitating Inmates through Training and Retraining (RITTR) Programme is a collaborative initiative between the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of National Security.  What started off as a pilot project with the prisons service back in 2006, is now a well-established training institution for inmates to become skilled and qualified in a relevant and much needed vocation.

This training presents a holistic approach to the rehabilitation of prisoners by focusing not only on the acquisition of occupational skills but also on the development of positive social skills and the transformation of attitudes and behaviour. This is well in line with YTEPP’s objective for this programme, which primarily is, to equip inmates with occupational skills as well as appropriate strategies, work habits and attitudes necessary for earning a legitimate living, through meaningful employment and self-employment, once released.

The Programme targets convicted inmates (male and female) between the ages of 18 – 50 years who have between 6 and 18 months left in their sentence. The Programme is offered at:

1.      Golden Grove Prison (Men) (GGPM)

2.      Golden Grove Prison (Women)(GGPW)

3.      Maximum Security Prison (MSP)

4.      Youth Training Centre (YTC)

 

The certification that graduates would receive is the Caribbean Vocational Qualification or CVQ issued by the National Training Agency (NTA).

Institute of Cosmetology

The Institute of Cosmetology first opened its doors in 2017 for student intake as well as to the general public for services, which formed part of the live training for students. The institute constitutes a modern fully equipped training salon and spa, complete with separate hair-dressing salon and demo-room, manicure/pedicure/make-up room and massage room, all providing students with hands-on ‘real work’ experience over a 1-year period.

It is designed to incorporate entrepreneurship learning into the teaching methodology as well as into the operations of the Training Salon/Spa. YTEPP strives to create a learning environment in which students can develop an enterprising mind-set, practice entrepreneurship and learn through trial and error.

YTEPP’s Institute of Cosmetology was established as a Centre of Excellence in Cosmetology as a result of a 3-year partnership in 2014 with the Vancouver Island University of Canada. It represented an initiative of the CARICOM Education for Employment Programme and was funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development of Canada in the sum of $40,000 CDN, and was administered and monitored by Colleges and Institutes Canada. The cost of infrastructure and outfitting was borne by YTEPP.

The establishment of YTEPP’s Institute of Cosmetology, a Centre of Excellence, serves as a catalyst for the needed upskilling as well as establishment of regulatory bodies, thereby ensuring that all practitioners within the industry are appropriately trained and certified.

The future plans for the Institute of Cosmetology includes continued development of new and renewed curricula for the implementation of more full-time courses at advanced levels of training; introduction of short-courses and part-time training to fit industry needs; introduction of professional development courses and train-the-trainer workshops to serve the cosmetology sector; and regional marketing to expand the student base across the region.

We encourage members of the general public to SUPPORT STUDENT SUCCESS by visiting the Institute of Cosmetology for specially priced services at our Woodford Lodge Campus in Chaguanas. Call us at 671-8022 or email: [email protected] for your booking.

Institute of Vehicular Maintenance and Repairs

A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in 2017 in collaboration with the Vehicle Maintenance Corporation of Trinidad and Tobago (VMCOTT) for the development and implementation of Level 2 courses in Automotive Technician Services.  The choice of this area of emphasis is part of YTEPP Limited’s thrust to engage more males in employment activity; while the programme will not exclude females, the underlying thinking is that more males will be attracted to this occupational area.

 

The initial course offered at the facility is designed for unemployed, underemployed, retrenched and displaced persons to provide the skills necessary for gainful employment in the Automotive Service Industry.  The course targets individuals who wish to enter the industry as entry level Automotive Service Technicians or Auto Body Repair technicians. Graduates from this programme will possess a wide range of knowledge and abilities that will allow them to perform competently in any Automotive Maintenance establishment.

The programme target citizens between the ages of 21 to 60 and the course is currently done at VMCOTT’s Beetham facility, Port of Spain.