TPAF set vision

www.fijitimes.com - Friday, November 20, 2009

The Training and Productivity Authority of Fiji (TPAF) says it has close contact with private industry to see what is needed before training people.

TPAF Director-General Jone Usamate said they received requests from various industries on the kind of training they should offer.

"We have annual Industry Discussion Forums where courses on offer are discussed with industries and feedback taken to develop the programs to meet their needs," he said. Mr Usamate said most students who graduated last week were already in employment.

About 530 graduated from TPAF last week. TPAF had 465 graduates in 2008, 420 in 2007 and 570 in 2006.

"Our vision is to be the "Centre of Excellence in Training and Productivity" in Fiji," Mr Usamate said.

He said they were working in the national interest to develop human capital, facilitate productivity improvement and assist organisations to raise their performance. "We work in the national interest by providing training and support to the public sector in terms of training champions for productivity improvement," he said.

"We promote productivity and the tools that can be used to increase productivity."

He said TPAF was also developing the national qualifications framework. Mr Usamate said TPAF provided training at all levels wherever and whenever required.

"We promote and manage the national apprenticeship and trade testing schemes; we provide grants to those who train their workers to improve performance," he said.

He said for next year TPAF was looking at increasing enrolments in Information Technology.

Mr Usamate added that some of the areas most in demand included management courses, IT courses, electrical courses, automotive courses, courses related to food processing, construction courses, welding and fabrication courses and joinery courses