The Ministry of Human Services and Social Security (MoHSSS) is currently exploring ways in which the Social Work programmes and possibly the Sociology programme offered by the University of Guyana (UG) could be made more applicable to the needs of the ministry’s social workers.
A MoHSSS release last week disclosed that Minister, Dr Vindhya Persaud and Deputy Permanent Secretary Anjanie Ramlall, held talks with Senior UG Lecturer and Sociologist Andrew Hicks, and Coordinator of Post-Graduate Studies in the Department of Sociology Debbie Hopkinson at the Ministry’s East and Lamaha streets location to discuss the matter.
“We want them to look at areas that are not captured by the current programme so that when someone graduates from UG with the degrees, they can fill some of the existing specialized gaps with regard to children and elderly, among others”, Persaud explained. A major focus of the meeting also had to do with the licensing of social workers.
The university reviewed the programme with a view to ascertaining the inclusion of a practical component at the Ministry notwithstanding the current COVID-19 restrictions.
According to the release, the meeting “was very fruitful” and laid the groundwork for the current Masters and Diploma Programmes to be updated so as to be more relevant to the social work that is required by the Ministry.
The participants also explored the possibility of UG offering a social work certificate programme as part of Women’s Innovation and Invest-ment Network (WIIN) leading to an associate degree and eventually into the programmes themselves.
With the university representatives working to change the curriculum to capture more restorative justice for youth and women, Persaud also proposed stress and anger management, family therapy, counselling, case report writing, elder and child abuse as relevant subject areas to be included.
The University also undertook to provide training to social workers who are currently in the system and may need to update their knowledge in the field, the release added.
