by Curlan Campbell, NOW Grenada
- 68 participants received skills certification under the Brian Campbell Empowerment Skills Training Programme
- CCCU celebrating 55 years of serving its membership
The Communal Co-operative Credit Union (CCCU) continues to advocate for the formation of business cooperatives as another 68 participants received skills certification under the credit union’s Brian Campbell Empowerment Skills Training Programme.
The training was conducted in collaboration with the TA Marryshow Community College (TAMCC) which acted as the coordinating agency to administer the training. Under the programme, the credit union offered short term courses in Basic Garment Construction, Basic Furniture Making, Cake and Pastry Making/Decoration, Plumbing, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning.
On the completion of the programme, each participant received level one Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) certification in their respective areas of training.
The inception of the programme in 2008, the Brian Campbell Empowerment Skills Training Programme, named after CCCU’s late general manager, started with 35 members, and to date boasts of having trained close to 350 of their membership.
Celebrating 55 years of serving its membership, General Manager, Lydia Courtney Francis, reiterated that the credit union in the last five years has witnessed the expansion of business services which includes Online Banking, Mobile banking, Connex ATM and the Grand Anse Business Centre to improve the transaction time when doing business with the credit union.
She said their members can look forward to more technological advancements. “We continue to push for the formation of business cooperatives coming out of this programme and we are encouraging you to facilitate discussions with your member peers in and out of this programme informing viable cooperative businesses to further grow as Credit Union members. Part of the core objective of setting up the Grand Anse Business Centre was to support our small business members and even new members of the Communal,” she said.
As the job market demands more skilled employees, Acting Associate Dean School of Continuing Education, Loreen Alexander commended participants for taking steps to acquire a skill in uncertain environment.
“In an uncertain world… acquiring a skill area is an investment in keeping your options open. The Communal Co-operative Credit Union recognises this and is doing something about it by educating you its members in skilled areas. We are looking forward to expanding the number of programmes offered and to continue cooperation with the Communal Co-operative Credit Union in this and other areas,” she said.
Programme Coordinator, Yvette Payne, took the opportunity to encourage members to continue seek further certification in their respective fields. “I would like to encourage that members embrace all of the opportunities being provided to them by the credit union. Some of you have the ability to pursue studies at maybe an Associate’s Degree level and TAMCC do offer a number of Associate Degrees,” she said.
The training which started in April 2019 and completed in August, took the form of theoretical and practical projects, oral and written exercises, field trips, work assignments individual and group assessment, peer evaluation and practical sessions.
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