Construction Industry Trust Fund (CITF) has committed to producing graduates who are ready to work, the Fund’s Executive Director, Sabryn Tsie, has said.
Speaking at a stakeholder engagement by CITF together with its training partner, JRK Training and Consulting, Tsie said their objective is to solve the longstanding issue of not ready-made graduates.
“Going forward, we want to produce graduates who are ready for work at all costs,” declared Tsie. “We do not experiment in our trainings.” Moreover, the Fund’s Executive Director disclosed that CITF will soon adopt a ‘Positive discrimination’ policy. Through the policy, CITF will give priority to women who apply for the Fund’s training.
CITF was established under Section 25 of the Finance and Audit Act (Cap.54:01) as a Special Fund, through Statutory Instrument No 139 of 1991, and a Board was also established to administer the Fund. Its focus is on training semi-skilled and skilled artisans in the vocations of Building, Construction, Manufacturing, Engineering, Agriculture, and other trades needed to diversify the economy.
Its chosen method used in training is the Competency Based Modular Training Programme which is a unique training designed to alleviate shortage of skilled manpower within various sector industries. Meanwhile, Connie Storom, JRK Training and Consulting Executive Director said they recognise the need to partner with the academia, hence the collaboration with CITF.
She explained that JRK partnered with CITF after realising that both of their values are aligned. “They are committed to delivering high-quality programmes,” said Storom. Additionally, she said JRK was lured to collaborate with CITF due to the latter’s footprint which is spread across the country.