Government to fast-track the training in skills at ABICE

The announcement that the new Harrison Centre-Antigua and Barbuda School of
Continuing Education (ABICE) has been mandated to introduce a special
programme to train residents in construction skills is to be fast-tracked, as the
demand for these individuals reaches critical levels.
Education Minister Daryll Matthew said the expansion of the University of the
West Indies Five Islands Campus will begin in the new year, and with other
construction projects slated to start next year…there is no time to waste.
“In the Ministry of Education, we have just commissioned ABICE and one of the
programmes we are looking to fast-track are short-courses; some three-month
intensive short courses in the construction trade; carpentry, masonry, plumbing and
electrical works, so that persons without the skills at this time may acquire those
skills through intensive training at ABICE,” Matthew explained.
The Minister reiterated that these courses will be conducted free of cost and in fact,
the earlier announcement said trainees will receive a stipend during the
programme. This emphasizes the seriousness of the need for skilled workers in the
construction sector.
Matthew also suggested that the government may have no alternative but to
encourage imported skilled labour, to help bridge the gap for construction workers.
The education minister said the planned expansion of the UWI FIC will be a ‘game
changer’ regarding its long-term impact on not only the Five Islands and
neighbouring communities, but the entire nation as a whole.