Under the ambit of the IDB-funded Citizen Security Programme’s community action component, 36 young people from the Sophia housing scheme graduated on Friday in very diverse and skilled areas.
The courses that the young people were trained in over the six-month period were: cosmetology, computer repair, electrical installation, food preparation and service, plumbing, joinery, masonry and welding, the Government Information agency (GINA) reported.
At the graduation ceremony Minister of Home Affairs Clement Rohee urged the graduates not to let this be the end of their learning journey and to go out into the world of work and give of their best.
“The Government would like to have trained as many young people as possible in life skills, this is the policy of the government,” Rohee is quoted as telling the gathering of young people, trainers and family members.
Programmes of a similar nature are carried out by the Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport, Guyana Police Force, Ministries of Labour, Human Services and Finance, and the Guyana Defence Force and are being held throughout Guyana, the minister told the gathering.
The programmes target individuals who may not have done well in school and those who may have dropped out but are willing to achieve life skills to help them function as effective and competent members of society, Rohee said.
He also urged the graduates to look towards the private entities and see what they have to offer in the areas in which they have been trained.
Meanwhile, the second batch of trainees will be starting their training very soon and many of the onlookers from within the community expressed an interest in taking up the challenge to learn more in order to better their own chances at employment, GINA concluded.
