The National Institute of Technical and Vocational Training (Infotep) successfully completed the program on the SCORE methodology, implemented by the International Labor Organization (ILO), with the support of the Center for Science and Technology of Antioquia, and delivered 15 certificates to an equal number of new experts in this field, five of them trained to be trainers.
Leading the delivery of certificates, together with Leonardo Ferreira, director of the ILO for Latin America, Haiti, Panama and Dominican Republic; the director of Infotep, Rafael Santos Badía, said that the benefits of this methodology are unquestionable and effectively proven, affecting the improvement of the climate and labor relations, increasing productivity, working conditions, eliminating delays, defects, waste and promoting a culture of competitiveness.
“As a result of the successful application of the five modules of the SCORE (Competitive, Responsible and Sustainable Enterprises) methodology, and with the certification of expert trainers, Infotep has become a center of excellence, the second in Latin America and the Caribbean,” said Santos Badía.
For his part, the ILO’s itinerant deputy director for Central America, Haiti, Panama and the Dominican Republic, Leonardo Ferreira, explained that of the 15 consultants trained in the SCORE Methodology, who today receive their certificates, 5 do so as expert trainers.
“This means that Infotep is capable of training new companies in the methodology and new SCORE trainers,” said Ferreira.
He recalled that the process of implementing the methodology in the country began in 2016, based on a collaboration agreement signed between the institute and the ILO.
“The implementation contemplated the training of a group of business advisors from Infotep, who received technical and methodological tools to train and accompany companies in their continuous improvement process,” said the ILO deputy director.
In the activity were also recognized the companies that had greater participation in the program, during the period 2018-2020: Impresora Conadex SRL, Saladín Industrias Gráficas, D’ Luis Parrillada and Productos Valle Verde.
As part of the presentation of certificates, the conference “Productive Transformation, Employment and Development: International Lessons for the Dominican Republic” was given by Álvaro Ramírez Bogantes, a specialist in technical vocational training of the International Labor Organization (ILO).
Ramírez Bogantes affirmed that the transforming force represented by the current changes in society must be used in the Dominican Republic by investing in the talent of its people, especially by including women and young people in the fourth industrial revolution, and developing the productivity and innovative potential of its companies to successfully link them to global value chains.
“Infotep is called to be a protagonist in this era of change, cultivating the Dominican entrepreneurial spirit and the human competencies needed to succeed in an uncertain world, full of exceptional opportunities for those who have done their homework well,” he said.
About SCORE
The implementation of the SCORE methodology is supported by the Project “Strengthening the capacities of the Ministry of Labor to improve working conditions in Dominican agriculture”, executed by the International Labor Organization (ILO) with funding from the United States Department of Labor (USDOL), under cooperative agreement number IL-31479-17-75-K-11.
Among the benefits of this methodology are: improved labor climate and labor relations, increased productivity, and better working conditions. It also contributes to eliminating delays, defects and waste and fostering a culture of competitiveness.
Since its inception in 2016, the SCORE Program has benefited 820 companies, 10 associations that concentrate 741 producing and exporting companies in the banana sector, located in the areas of influence of the regions: South, North and East of our country, as well as in the city of Santo Domingo.
These companies belong to the following sectors: Commerce, Service, Agribusiness, Metalworking, Textile and Graphic Arts.
The SCORE methodology is a global training and technical assistance program developed by the ILO that seeks to support small and medium-sized enterprises in improving the working conditions of workers and their productivity, through the implementation of sustainable business management systems based on cooperation in the workplace.
