Set to join forces with the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (CTVET) to roll out a programme in Mineral Prospecting and Map Reading in several communities across the country, the Guyana Mining School and Training Centre is aiming to play a more impactful role in ensuring the enhanced performance of the mining sector in 2019, Member of Parliament and Chairman of the School’s Board of Directors, Audwin Rutherford, has told the Stabroek Business.
On Wednesday Rutherford told the Stabroek Business that while its 2019 training regime will continue to focus on upgrading mine managers and other functionaries who are already part of the mining sector, its focus on seeking to merge its programme into the mainstream curriculum was aimed at, as far as possible, infusing skills into young people that were likely to “create openings” for them in the mining sector. “Given the nature of the industry we believe that it would be to its advantage if we can have young people coming after already having secured some level of training in areas that have to do with mining,” Rutherford told Stabroek Business.
Part of the Mining School’s responsibility is to provide safety and health training to workers in the sector, a responsibility widely regarded as critical to the stability of the gold mining industry.