With the National Institute for Technical and Vocational Training (INFOTEP) as host institution, the Dominican Republic welcomed in Punta Cana more than 140 representatives of 45 institutions from 25 countries, as well as governments, employers' and workers' organizations, who were invited to the RST Meeting.

Rafael Santos Badía, Director General, and Maira Morla, Deputy Director General of INFOTEP, respectively, thanked the Director General of the International Labour Organization (ILO), Gilbert F. Houngbo, the Director of ILO/Cinterfor, Anne Posthuma, the Minister of Labour, Luis Miguel de Camps, and all the representatives of the different vocational training institutions for their participation. Also representatives of governments, employers' and workers' organisations.

"The main purpose of the meeting, which is to join efforts for the continuous improvement of the quality of vocational training in the countries present, has undoubtedly been fulfilled," they explained.

ILO/Cinterfor Director Anne Posthuma stressed that the outcomes of the 46th RCT commit the Centre to continue to support all institutions of the Network of Vocational Training Institutions and tripartite constituents to effectively address the challenges.

"We will continue to work together to develop innovative training programmes, foster regional collaboration and ensure that our training systems are inclusive and equitable," he said.

Posthuma said that as we look to the future we must remember that the success of these institutions is not only measured in terms of numbers and statistics, but in the transformation of people's lives and the positive impact on communities and societies.

The ILO's Deputy Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean, Claudia Coenjaerts, explained that vocational training and, in general, policies aimed at skills development, are a fertile field for social dialogue.

"Indeed, social dialogue has to be seen as a necessary condition for VET policies that effectively contribute to productive development, social justice and decent work," she said.

For Coenjaerts, cooperation is based on generosity. And this RCT has been an example of this. He said that all the institutions and organisations present have invested resources to share their experiences.

At this conclave, the central themes involved green jobs or sustainable economies, as well as the impact of digitalisation and its use to avoid accentuating inequalities.

The implications of the great transitions of these times, in technological, environmental and demographic terms, were addressed. Strategies for inclusion and equal opportunities, anticipation of training demands, certification of competences and institutional innovation and social dialogue in training were also discussed.

Next venue

At the closing ceremony, the venue for the next ILO-CINTERFOR Technical Committee Meeting, to be held in two years' time, was announced. Chile was selected to bring together, once again, the technical training institutions of the member countries.

Discussions

The representatives of vocational training institutions, employers, workers and labour ministers present at the event agreed on the need to establish inclusive vocational training systems, because all transitions run the risk of accentuating existing inequalities.

They also saw it as an important element that the institutions and bodies linked to vocational training should ensure that they accompany technological change, in order to have control over the process that technologies enable, beyond being mere users.

It was also suggested that the jobs of the future will require transversal elements of skills, such as critical thinking and creativity, because these types of skills take time to develop.

Another central point of the debate at the 46th Meeting of the ILO/Cinterfor Technical Committee was the articulation of training institutions with public policies, given that these bodies have a limit to their capacity for action.

In this respect, some experts who participated in the presentations considered that vocational training institutions should be mainly part of productive development and inclusion policies.

These aspects were analysed in conferences, panels and discussions, where topics such as Collaborative Innovation Initiatives, Regional Alliance for Dual Training, Advances in Vocational Training in the Dominican Republic and Challenges of Productive Transformation with Justice and Social Inclusion for Vocational Training were also addressed.

In addition, vocational training in inclusion strategies and equal opportunities, institutional and training experiences in the framework of the digital and just transition towards carbon-free economies were addressed.

The 46th Meeting of the Technical Commission was not only an opportunity to discuss relevant topics, but also to strengthen existing cooperation ties and forge new collaborative initiatives between countries and institutions.

This event has been, simultaneously, a space for historical celebration, to take stock of what has been achieved and to look to the future.