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It opened for classes September of last year but the Institute for Technical and Vocational Education and Training – or ITVETT was officially opened this evening. It is significant for many reasons because IT-VETT, which is a vocational school, now sits on the campus and in the building that housed the former Belize Technical College on Freetown Road. It is also noteworthy because the ITVETT in Belize City is the final center built as part of a $60 million financing package from the Caribbean Development Bank. Under that program, IT-VETT’s were built in each district. But specific focus was placed on the Belize City campus which included restoring the old Technical’s main building while preserving its distinctive architecture. Following this evening’s ribbon cutting we spoke to Minister of Education Patrick Faber, the CDB’s Portfolio Manager Deidra Clarendon, and Kenroy Ellis – the manager of IT-VETT.

Hon. Patrick Faber, Minister of Education
“This opening today signifies the end of the construction of all of these facilities countrywide. Every district now has an IT-VETT facility and so now it is really full speed ahead in terms of us making offerings of programs in these facilities to make sure that there is a move in the forward direction as it relates to technical and vocational education.”

Deidra Clarendon, CDB – Portfolio Manager
“The CDB provided funding with the government of Belize to construct six ITVETTS in all districts of Belize to provide teacher training, curriculum reform, as well as training of principles who are going to operate the IT-VETTs.”

Kenroy Ellis, Manager, IT-VETT
“We have several courses offered, we have hospitality services, food and beverage services, we have AC and Refrigeration Repair, electrical installation, we are offering also some evening programs in AC and Refrigeration Repair, electrical installation and automotive and we also have some training programs which we are doing for the BDF.”

Hon. Patrick Faber,
“The entry requirements for the ITVETTs should be ideally that you are a high school graduate. However because the kind of institution that existed as the parent institution to the ITVETT was the CET which had a different concept as its guiding force; those dropping out of primary and secondary school. There has been some difficulty in making that transition. So it is a matter now of doing the proper marketing now that the facility has been completed and as well that we find a way to fill the void that has been created by the move now to cater primarily to secondary school graduates.”

Kenroy Ellis,
“We have the capacity to offer ten programs at the same time. So we can offer ten programs in the day and ten programs at night. Once you’re 15 and you’re a Belizean you can enter the program. You will be to take a diagnostic test which will determine at what level you will enter into the program or whether you need to do pre-vocational preparation before entering the IT-VETT program.”

There are currently 99 students enrolled in the day at IT-VETT and 100 students at night. The school has space to enrol many more students. You can apply at IT-VETT on Freetown Road.