Beauty services entrepreneur and graduate student in the Master’s degree programme in Leadership in TVET and Workforce Development, Alia Wedderburn, secured first place in the 2015 Skills in Action competition organized by the UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training.  The announcement was made at the Second International Conference on Technical, Vocational Education and Training in the Caribbean  hosted by the School of Education  May 13 – 15, 2015 at the Hilton Rose Hall Resort and Spa, in Montego Bay, St. James. Th conference was done in partnership with the Ministry of Education, HEART Trust/NTA; the University of Technology, Jamaica; the Caribbean Association of National Training Agencies and UNESCO Kingston Cluster Office for the Caribbean (UNEVOC). 

 The competition was open to TVET practitioners across the world, and is awarded to individuals who inspire others and who have acted as ambassadors for technical and vocational education and training in their community.  In making the award, UNESCO-UNEVOC  said that Alia demonstrated how far TVET can take a young person – how one can use and express creative and scientific skills, further build up one’s education, be inventive, and use TVET to bring about change.   

In accepting the award , Alia said:     

"My TVET experience has been extremely rewarding and this is embedded in the unwavering support of my parents - who are here. Thank you for believing in me and funding my many ideas and desires. 

It is important for me to highlight the programme that allowed me to venture on this path. Fifteen years ago, the TVET Rationalization Programme, spearheaded by Dr. Carole Powell, allowed a Hampton girl to access cosmetology classes at the St. Elizabeth Technical High School. This opportunity was fundamental as it provided early exposure to the field that would shape my destiny.

I am extremely grateful to the HEART Trust NTA for providing training - and exposure through initiatives such as WorldSkills International; this experience encouraged me to embrace international standards and strengthened my belief in the TVET system.

My TVET journey has now taken the pathway of higher learning through research.

I am thankful to Dr. Halden Morris for painting the walls of the University of the West Indies with Leadership in TVET and Workforce Development. The graduate programme has synchronized the Caribbean with the rest of the world and is preparing leaders who understand the importance of this journey that will inevitably lead to National and Regional Development.

I salute UNESCO/UNEVOC for creating the Skills in Action award as a tool for recognizing and promoting excellence in TVET.

TVET is the gateway to greatness and is the key to transforming lives. 

My life is a resounding reflection of Skills in Action and this has been made possible because of you - the TVET practitioners and supporters who believe."