Gov’t continues to invest in education

The Government of Saint Vincent and The Grenadines (GoSVG) is inviting local businesses to apply for training grants under the Caribbean Regional Communications Infrastructure Program (CARCIP) SVG project.

On Friday, April 15, 2016, the Ministry of Economic Planning, Sustainable Development, Industry, Information and Labour (Ministry of Economic Planning) launched its second call for proposals under the Training Grants Programme of the CARCIP SVG ICT-Led Innovation component.{{more}}

Through this programme, local businesses and non-governmental institutions seeking to enhance the skill set of their employees — in the area of ICT — would have access to grant funding of up to EC $100,000 (US $37,200).

To be eligible, a business must be legally registered with the relevant authorities in SVG; be legally and financially autonomous; operate under Commercial law and not be dependent on the Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.

A business may partner with another business for purposes of the project, and, in which case, the lead organization must be legally established in SVG. It must also provide counterpart funding of 35 per cent of the cost of the project (which can be in-kind, an equivalent monetary amount or a combination of both) and accept the financial requirements of the program. The proposed training must be ICT related and offered to a minimum of 15 persons.

For more information, interested applicants can contact the Telecommunications Office located on the 4th Floor of the CLICO Building in Kingstown at telephone number 456-1223 or email carcipsvg@gov.vc.

The call for proposals will close on May 16, 2016.

Meantime, the GoSVG is funding training for individuals seeking to develop their skills in ICT related areas. This initiative, is being implemented by the Ministry of Economic Planning through CARCIP SVG in collaboration with the SVG National Centre of Technological Innovation (SVGNCTI).

Under this training programme, qualified applicants will receive a grant of up to 80 per cent of the total cost of the course.

The areas of training are: Computer Fundamentals, Introduction to System Design, Mobile Application Design and Development, Computer Application for the Office, Database Design, Introduction to Programming, Object Oriented Programming Basics, Web Page Design, CompTIA Network+, and CompTIA Security+.

Interested applicants can contact the SVGNCTI office, located on Sharpe Street, Kingstown, (Upstairs the Physical Planning Unit) between the hours of 8:00AM and 4:00PM or call 456-2971. Information can also be obtained from SVGNCTI website, www.svgncti.org/carcip/.

CARCIP SVG is a regional initiative that involves St. Lucia, Grenada and St. Vincent and the Grenadines and financed through a loan by the World Bank.

This programme is estimated to cost EC$1.4 million (US$0.525 million) and to date over EC$223,000 (US$83,000) in grants have been awarded to local entrepreneurs.