COMPETENCY BASED TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN
Recent developments. Some experiences. January, 2003

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COMPETENCY-BASED TRAINING IN LATIN AMERICA 1

This paper takes a brief look at the various experiences and initiatives in the areas of training, standardization and the certification of labour competencies. The aim is not to give an exhaustive account of the subject but rather to illustrate how, in an ambit of such diverse interests, there is a clear convergence towards improving the relevance and quality of training.

Introduction

The subject of training and the certification of labour competencies has been developing for a number of years in Latin America2. At present, there are signs of various actors and interests involved in this subject, and because of this there are a number of groups of initiatives in the regional scene which are being carried through by the private sector, by Ministries of Labour and Education and by vocational training institutions.

The companies in the region that are conducting training and competency certification processes have done so to improve their conditions of productivity and also, in some cases, to comply with international standards, usually in the area of safety. In the first case there are companies in the automotive and pharmaceutical sectors, for example, which have developed labour competency models and have defined profiles in which workers can obtain certification and thus improve their chances of labour mobility. In many cases, competency certification goes very well with the execution of training programs and with the definition of the occupational careers of the workers.

Besides this, Ministries of Labour and of Education have also understood the need to create an instrument for the public recognition of work capacities, which would facilitate exchanges between offer and demand and give greater transparency to labour relations. In such cases, labour competency certificates are very useful when they represent the real and proven capacities of workers, regardless of how these were acquired. They give a very accurate picture of competency and allow possible employers to clearly understand the labour capacities that workers have.

Moreover, training institutions are concerned with developing better training programs based on the identified labour competencies required in work. In this way they are seeking to improve the efficiency and quality of their activity.

Training and competency certification are also important for the labour sector. In this information and knowledge society, the certificate is an excellent means of rating the knowledge and know-how possessed and applied by the worker beyond his academic achievements, and appreciating his work experience. It may be an excellent instrument for orienting training efforts, and it also reinforces the current trend to include vocational training among the subjects for bargaining. In this a case, good vocational training which leads to labour competency certificates is highly desirable.

When all the initiatives and interests are handled in a coordinated way and an institutional structure is created which guarantees the cycle of identification, standardization, training and certification, then what we have is a standardized system of training and competency certification.

 

 

 

 

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1. This paper was first prepared in the year 2000, and it is brought up to date periodically to show the regional panorama more accurately.
2. In 1996, Cinterfor participated in the organization of an international seminar in Guanajuato, Mexico, in which experiences from all over the world were presented, and the subject of training institutions in the region was introduced.

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