INFOTEP Accion 2005 - Dominican Republic

In the Dominican Republic, the Instituto Nacional de Formación Técnico Profesional, INFOTEP (National Institute for Technical-Vocational Training), in its recently adopted strategic plan INFOTEP ACCION 2005, embarks upon the implementation of an innovative and flexible curricular system, that may be assimilated with other educational sub-systems, to meet the current needs of the labour market. An initial strategy in that respect, is to promote the creation of inter-institutional working committees, forums and discussion groups to make curricular standardisation viable, and favour the horizontal and vertical inter-connection among the various sub-systems and for skills’ certification purposes. As a second strategy, INFOTEP intends to develop training methodologies on the basis of occupational competencies’ standards and non-traditional systems, in order to respond in a more dynamic and flexible manner to the changes and demands of the national and international labour markets.

The National Technical Training Institute, INFOTEP, as a model of collegiate management based on the tripartite principle, has made notable progress in the integration of the National System of Vocational Training for Productive Work. Various mechanisms of integration and participation have been set up, in which important elements of the system, of the environment, and of the different areas of instruction come together.

Such mechanisms allow the tripartite model of management to be widened and complemented, extending levels of coordination and the participation of large socioeconomic groups in the institution itself, improving efficiency and efficacy, increasing and diversifying the offer of training by using the installed capacity of the collaborating centres, and incorporating new strategies and training methodologies to satisfy demand from industry, which is facing a new economic scenario characterized by high levels of competitiveness.

What stands out among these mechanisms are those that have to do with the integration of the productive sectors (consultative committees, technical commissions, planning committees, evaluation commissions, etc.), those that have to do with the integration of the components of the system and inter-institutional coordination (delegated management centres, shared management centre, development projects with international bodies and organizations), those that have to do with supporting institutional and system management (control commission, budget committee, revenue commission, etc); and those connected to regional strategic alliances through the conclusion of agreements and conventions (the Cooperation Agreement on Vocational Training Institutions in the Central American Isthmus and the Dominican Republic, the agreement with the CONOCER in Mexico, etc.).

INFOTEP has successfully implemented the methodology of the measurement and improvement of productivity, which utilizes the diagnosis of competencies which have to be developed by a company's human resources in order to attain a full application and development of human talent, give sense and relevance to training, and apply to the development of the productivity indicators in the companies that benefit. The central idea turns on the role of training for developing the competencies which contribute to improving the company's competitiveness. The institute has documented a number of successful applications of this methodology which combine training with the management of competitiveness.

EMP/SKILLS - Skills and Employability Department