Confirmation in 2015 that Guyana had become an ‘oil rich’ nation triggered, shortly thereafter, energetic public chatter regarding possible lucrative ‘openings’ in various parts of the industry for the trained/qualified. The notion eventually gave rise to energetic chatter and afterwards to a somewhat more structured discourse regarding a route through which Guyanese could eventually take up positions in the sector that offered levels of professional satisfaction and monetary rewards that went beyond the levels that had previously obtained in Guyana.
Discussion, over time, has found its way into other relevant avenues… like the fact that the complete absence of a track record in the sector had meant that the cupboard was decidedly bare insofar as institutions that could offer courses that would qualify Guyanese (over a relatively short period of time) to take up sensitive positions in the oil and gas sector was concerned. At the level of formal institutions, the University of Guyana (UG) and the Government Technical Institute (GTI) appeared to be the best-positioned local institutions to ‘lead the way.’