NIPA Director Sergio Blomont.
CAY HILL--New National Institute for Professional Advancement (NIPA) Director Sergio Blomont has some major plans for the school. Blomont was appointed on August 1, 2018.
In one of his first interviews since his appointment, Blomont told The Daily Herald he plans to restructure and revamp all current programmes at NIPA and make way for the implementation of new programmes.
Another plan is to work closely with other local educational institutions and seek direct input from and collaborate with the wider community such as employers. He said vocational education can only be successful if the needs of the labour market can be responded to in a quick manner. A close collaboration with the Ministry of Education will be necessary to facilitate “qualitative modern vocational education” within the legal framework.
“NIPA exists because of its student population. We owe it our students to get the best education they deserve. Therefore, my ambition is for NIPA to become an institution where we cater for the needs and hands-on future of our students in all we do,” Blomont said.
“Based on this we need to work towards the equally important aspect of offering meaningful and quality programmes which will give trainees the opportunities to join the local labour force where our institute is not only locally, but also regionally and internationally recognised.”
Blomont said one of the major challenges he has been addressing since taking on his new position is restructuring the current programmes at NIPA. “These programmes have been in place since NIPA opened its doors five years ago and are in need of revamping.”
Another challenge is to have all stakeholders collaborate and to have more effective communication internally and externally, whereby everyone from student to teacher to the community will be responsible and accountable in making NIPA the institution it can and should be in St. Maarten.
Asked why he had decided to take on the challenge to lead NIPA, Blomont said: “While working at Milton Peters College, in the capacity of coordinator/adjunct director in [technical-vocational – Ed.] education, I realised that most of our vocational students were stranded after completing their high school, having few options.
“When NIPA opened its doors officially in 2014, I thought this would be resolved. However, there were not many technical courses offered. That’s when I decided to offer my help to advance tertiary vocational education, believing in the tremendous potential of NIPA.”
He said NIPA currently has a student population of 400, including the participants in the Emergency Recovery Programmes. “What is interesting to add is that NIPA is an extremely busy institute today. On a regular evening, one can hardly find a parking spot. With all post-[Hurricane] Irma vocational retraining programmes funded by local and international funding, NIPA is becoming the institute, catering to nearly 1,000 persons per week.
“We need to see this as a great opportunity and follow up on this by making NIPA the [technical-vocational] institution for all sectors and generations offering a wide variety of programmes. In the upcoming years, we hope to expand the trainee population by increasing the number of short- and long-term programmes, firstly focusing on revamping our current programmes.
“Through the support and inclusion of many … we are working on promoting our programmes, sharing with the community that we are ready for the next phase. This year NIPA exists five years and despite a number of challenges in the past … continues to move forward with the support of others.
“I fully realize that it takes a village to raise a child and therefore I am very grateful to have a very supportive school board who underlines this vision. We are expanding in terms of hiring staff to strengthen our human resources along our current staff and simultaneously improving the physical structure in terms of facilities, educational materials and the ICT [information and communication technology] infrastructure.”
Blomont said he looks forward to exposing NIPA via events such as an interactive open house, having input from the business sector and working with students and community partners to make NIPA “the institute of the people of St. Maarten. As a local St. Maartener, I went through all phases of vocational education, hence making me ready for NIPA to offer our hands-on youth and adults the opportunities they deserve.”
Blomont holds Bachelor’s degrees in Education and in Built Environment, and has history in the education and construction fields. He taught at an academic high school in Amsterdam, worked at contracting firm Dura Vermeer as “Work Preparator,” as Project Manager for Independent Consulting Engineers (ICE) and at Milton Peters College as Coordinator/Adjunct Director for the PKL/PBL Department for a period of six years.
