ITCILO and ILO Caribbean partner with Cipriani College to advance digital transformation and enhance lifelong learning
Two innovative activities will ensure workers are better prepared for evolving labour markets.
1 July 2023
Collaborative efforts between the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization (ITCILO), the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean and Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies (CCLCS) will modernize education in decent work and social justice for learners in Trinidad and Tobago and across the region.
“The partnerships will develop and implement two activities at the CCLCS and is based on a shared vision to strengthen the ability of current and future workers to adapt and prosper as they face changing labour market and socio-economic realities now and for generations to come,” said Ms. Vera Guseva, Workers’ Activities Specialist at the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean.
The first activity between ITCILO and the CCLCS focuses on a digital transformation of the College’s learning management system. As the training arm of the ILO, the ITCILO is providing guidance for programmes and pedagogies of the CCLCS with financial and technical contributions from the ILO Caribbean Office. A recent field mission to visit the CCLCS in April 2023 led by Tom Wambeke, ITCILO Manager of Learning Innovation and supported by Alessia Messuti, ITCILO Programme Officer, provided an opportunity for face-to-face meetings between both teams to develop comprehensive activity mapping and workplan.
“Under the ITCILO-CCLCS digitization activity we have conducted institutional, learning service and stakeholder scans to assess opportunities and challenges affecting teaching and learning to tailor the development and implementation of digitization for the College. Based on those findings, they are now working on approaches that will support the College’s shift to a new learning management system (LMS),” said Mr. Sheldon Salino, Deputy Director of Academic Affairs at Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies.
In the short-term, the CCLCS Communications Unit will engage with the ITCILO Communications Team on enhancing their marketing and communications strategies to effectively promote and encourage the adoption of the new LMS by internal and external stakeholders. The ITCILO has also identified a number of relevant training courses and materials which are being disseminated to different departments at the CCLCS.
In the medium-term, the ITCILO will provide guidance with respect to the development and introduction of a pricing policy for access to the soon to be launched CCLCS digital environment. The process also involves the CCLCS quality assurance team to ensure compliance with accreditation standards in Trinidad and Tobago.
Both institutions are also exploring the integration of virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to close gaps in teaching and learning for the benefit of the College staff and learners. Throughout the LMS planning stage and after its launch, the ITCILO will provide technical advice and guidance on optimizing its ongoing use.
Through the second activity, the CCLCS is working with the ILO Caribbean team to make their training offer more responsive to the skills demanded in the Caribbean labour market.
A lifelong learning (LLL) strategy was developed with support from ILO Caribbean Skills and Lifelong Learning Specialist Ms. Ilca Webster. “The LLL strategy will strengthen the College’s capacity to prepare workers to adapt to the disruptive, shifting domains of the future of work. It comes at a time of longer-term economic transformation and widening decent work deficits and seeks to leverage skills development and lifelong learning to empower the workforce by improving their opportunities for access to and mobility in the labour market,” said Ms. Webster.
In their LLL strategy, Cipriani College targets youth groups in different stages of education, for example school grads who are undecided about their learning and career paths, and young adults who face delays in national internship programmes and find themselves neither in school nor in jobs. Another target group is adult learners who have experience in the workforce and wish to engage with the College for professional mobility and advance their career.
“Next steps for implementation of the LLL activity will focus on the College’s emphasis on integrating social justice and decent work into educational experiences to prepare both groups for the future of work as CARE Learners who are skilled in Communications (C), Agility (A), Resilience (R), and (E) Experientiality,” said Dr. Saadiqa Khan, Programme Dean of General Education Department at Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies.
“As students learn in the digital information age, the activity will prioritize a connectivity perspective. This will help learners develop critical thinking skills on how to link information from various sources to create new knowledge. The activity will also align with the ITCILO-CCLCS digitization initiative to enhance technology-based platforms and networks. These tools will support social dialogue and engagement,” said Mr. Cristian Mora, Senior Human Resource Specialist and Adjunct Lecturer, Labour Studies at Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies.
For more information about both partner institutions, please visit the ITCILO's website and the CCLCS' website.
“The partnerships will develop and implement two activities at the CCLCS and is based on a shared vision to strengthen the ability of current and future workers to adapt and prosper as they face changing labour market and socio-economic realities now and for generations to come,” said Ms. Vera Guseva, Workers’ Activities Specialist at the ILO Decent Work Team and Office for the Caribbean.
The first activity between ITCILO and the CCLCS focuses on a digital transformation of the College’s learning management system. As the training arm of the ILO, the ITCILO is providing guidance for programmes and pedagogies of the CCLCS with financial and technical contributions from the ILO Caribbean Office. A recent field mission to visit the CCLCS in April 2023 led by Tom Wambeke, ITCILO Manager of Learning Innovation and supported by Alessia Messuti, ITCILO Programme Officer, provided an opportunity for face-to-face meetings between both teams to develop comprehensive activity mapping and workplan.
“Under the ITCILO-CCLCS digitization activity we have conducted institutional, learning service and stakeholder scans to assess opportunities and challenges affecting teaching and learning to tailor the development and implementation of digitization for the College. Based on those findings, they are now working on approaches that will support the College’s shift to a new learning management system (LMS),” said Mr. Sheldon Salino, Deputy Director of Academic Affairs at Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies.
In the short-term, the CCLCS Communications Unit will engage with the ITCILO Communications Team on enhancing their marketing and communications strategies to effectively promote and encourage the adoption of the new LMS by internal and external stakeholders. The ITCILO has also identified a number of relevant training courses and materials which are being disseminated to different departments at the CCLCS.
In the medium-term, the ITCILO will provide guidance with respect to the development and introduction of a pricing policy for access to the soon to be launched CCLCS digital environment. The process also involves the CCLCS quality assurance team to ensure compliance with accreditation standards in Trinidad and Tobago.
Both institutions are also exploring the integration of virtual reality (VR) and artificial intelligence (AI) to close gaps in teaching and learning for the benefit of the College staff and learners. Throughout the LMS planning stage and after its launch, the ITCILO will provide technical advice and guidance on optimizing its ongoing use.
Through the second activity, the CCLCS is working with the ILO Caribbean team to make their training offer more responsive to the skills demanded in the Caribbean labour market.
A lifelong learning (LLL) strategy was developed with support from ILO Caribbean Skills and Lifelong Learning Specialist Ms. Ilca Webster. “The LLL strategy will strengthen the College’s capacity to prepare workers to adapt to the disruptive, shifting domains of the future of work. It comes at a time of longer-term economic transformation and widening decent work deficits and seeks to leverage skills development and lifelong learning to empower the workforce by improving their opportunities for access to and mobility in the labour market,” said Ms. Webster.
In their LLL strategy, Cipriani College targets youth groups in different stages of education, for example school grads who are undecided about their learning and career paths, and young adults who face delays in national internship programmes and find themselves neither in school nor in jobs. Another target group is adult learners who have experience in the workforce and wish to engage with the College for professional mobility and advance their career.
“Next steps for implementation of the LLL activity will focus on the College’s emphasis on integrating social justice and decent work into educational experiences to prepare both groups for the future of work as CARE Learners who are skilled in Communications (C), Agility (A), Resilience (R), and (E) Experientiality,” said Dr. Saadiqa Khan, Programme Dean of General Education Department at Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies.
“As students learn in the digital information age, the activity will prioritize a connectivity perspective. This will help learners develop critical thinking skills on how to link information from various sources to create new knowledge. The activity will also align with the ITCILO-CCLCS digitization initiative to enhance technology-based platforms and networks. These tools will support social dialogue and engagement,” said Mr. Cristian Mora, Senior Human Resource Specialist and Adjunct Lecturer, Labour Studies at Cipriani College of Labour and Co-operative Studies.
For more information about both partner institutions, please visit the ITCILO's website and the CCLCS' website.