Graduates at the GuySuCo Training Centre were urged to seize all opportunities and aim for success when the 48th convocation ceremony was hosted at the Port Mourant Hostel on Friday last.
In his address Manager of the Centre Floyd F Scott told the graduates that complacency and mediocrity had no place in their profession. Scott said it was education that made them trainable and training which made them employable but it was attitude that would determine whether or not they maintained employment.
The manager said that in 2004, 51 persons registered for training. Forty-one proceeded to in-plant training and “35 have survived to receive the rewards for hard work and perseverance”.
Scott also said plans are in train to boost the training the institution offers. “The responsibility of the institution continues to be the uncompromising and relentless task to put back into GuySuCo Training Centre, Port Mourant those attributes and virtues for which it was known during the early 70s to early 80s,” he said.
He said too he is committed to making decisions that will “guarantee that GuySuCo Training Centre remains an outstanding institution” even if it makes him “unpopular”. Scott said he envisions the centre as one which trains youth to maintain and enhance the sugar corporation’s product and the centre remains committed to resolving its challenges.
In giving an overview Scott told the audience that the centre has provided residential training to 163 persons for GuySuCo’s five estates and three trainees from the Guyana Fire Service (GFS). The courses include basic engineering practices, fitting and machining, electrical installation, instrumentation, agricultural/auto mechanics, auto electrics and sugar processing. He said about six per cent of students dropped out and “seven persons were excluded from the institution due to breaches of the institution’s code of conduct relating to unacceptable behaviours and nefarious activities.”
The manager said the centre intends to implement a number of changes including upgrading the physical infrastructure, adding internet-ready computers, an audio-visual laboratory and a reading and research library. It also intends to enhance its administrative building and to create its own website.
GuySuCo also plans to implement more training and developmental programmes whilst ensuring that they are in keeping with organizational demands and needs.
Scott said the centre also plans to foster relationships with Caricom technical institutions and extend programmes to other Caricom territories. Plans are also in train to collaborate with the Technical Vocational Education and Training (TVET) Authority in the quest to accredit the institution as a technical vocational assessment and testing centre for certified and uncertified skilled artisan in keeping with the free movement of skills within Caricom.
According to Scott, the trainees are also involved in a number of co-curricular activities. They are currently the Guyana Junior Volleyball champions and have represented the country at the Inter-Guyana Games.
Trainees have also cultivated a kitchen garden for the centre and participate regularly in religious activities put on by various faith-based groups. He also lauded their performance last year in the Government Technical Education Examination which reflected 100% success with 89% of the apprentices earning distinctions and 11% credits.
Fifty-one per cent of the apprentices from all GuySuCo locations and the GFS started training in their specific skill area after completing one year of basic foundation engineering practices.
Meanwhile, valedictorian Selwin Collier told his colleagues that they should see themselves as ambassadors of the GuySuCo Training Centre. He said that they have emerged as young adults seeking knowledge with greatness from an institution considered second to none in the Caribbean. “We have formed a bond of brotherhood and friendship that can take us through a lifetime. The experiences we have gained and the memories we have shared would last for long time. Let us remember where we came from and who we are today.”
GuySuCo CEO Errol O S Hanoman said the centre produces rounded young people, “but our biggest worry is whether we are able to hold you.” He told the class that they needed to be patient and to work hard before they can achieve. He said too “GuySuCo is not young-people friendly” and as such the trainees will need to prove their worth. He said the company has just introduced new technologies at its Skeldon factory and as a result it will be hosting courses to fit in with the new technologies. To do this $25million will be spent to acquire computers, build new infrastructure and purchase text books.
Chairman of the Board Dr Nanda Gopaul said, “if we are capable of producing the vegetables I have seen, then we should not be importing those canned stuff” regarding the trainees’ kitchen garden. He said too the training should be in sync with new technology at the Skeldon factory so that “the factory can be handled by you”. He appealed to the graduating class not to migrate with their newly acquired skills and knowledge but to give back to Guyana. He also assured them that “There is room for young people to work in this country.”
Delivering the feature address Minister of Agriculture Robert Persaud said he has seen signs of improvement at GuySuCo, but still there is lot of work to do. He charged the graduates to use their skills to revitalise the industry. “There is a bright future for youths in the sugar industry, but they must play the role required, that is, to do the hard work”, he said, adding that he hoped that a few years from now they would still be attached to the factory.