Point Lisas, Couva: Students of the National Energy Skills Center (NESC) will soon benefit from a work-integrated learning curriculum, which will give them real-work experience directly within their academic programmes. This is one of the new initiatives NESC and the Canada-based Red Deer Polytechnic (RDP) plan to collaborate on as they extended their partnership agreement to 2031, during a signing ceremony held at RDP’s campus in Alberta, Canada on 18th November 2022.
The new Collaborative Agreement also affirms a commitment to increase the offering of skilled trades programmes through the NESC, to continue instructor development training and mentorship and to develop a Renewable Energy Programme in the Caribbean region. “We are looking forward to expanding our footprint in the Caribbean market by leveraging opportunities for skills training in the region. We will work together to promote a model of technical training delivery, jointly certified by RDP and NESC,” said Kern Dass, President of NESC.
Another key feature of the agreement is a commitment for both institutions to explore applied research opportunities together, around topics like emerging trade technologies and practices, and energy and manufacturing innovations.
NESC and RDP’s partnership began in 2008 and has evolved over the years. Since 2016, graduates of NESC’s diploma programmes have also been eligible to receive Red Deer’s Trade Professional Certificate after completing one year of industry work experience. This gives NESC graduates Canadian credentials that expand their employment opportunities to North America and is a major selling point of NESC’s diploma programmes. “As Red Deer Polytechnic, we are excited to continue our valuable partnership with the NESC Technical Institute and our global outreach,” said Stuart Cullum, President of Red deer Polytechnic.
Over the years, RDP has also provided instructor development training, quality assurance, certification and access to its Learning Management System, which allowed the NESC Technical Institute to offer blended online delivery to students during the COVID-19 pandemic.