As part of its efforts to strengthen its relationship with agencies across the National Statistical System, the Bureau of Statistics recently conducted training with Guyana Fire Service personnel.
A release on Thursday from the Bureau informed that a total of 58 firefighters and subordinate officers from the GFS’ 22 Fire Stations were trained in two batches by technical personnel over a two-week period at its headquarters in Georgetown.
Among the areas covered were the importance of Statistics for decision-making, importance of good stewardship of data, Introduction to Data Collection and Management, data analysis, and improving workflows and reporting outcomes. This means that those trained are now better equipped to improve the Fire Service’s data collection, analysis and management.
According to the release, the training exercise is in keeping with the Bureau’s commitment to strengthening its relationships with agencies across the National Statistical System in an effort to maximise the benefits of data and statistics and ensure a coordinated approach to data collection.
Chief Fire Officer, Gregory Wickham, who spoke at the closing of the training exercise, expressed gratitude to the Bureau for facilitating the capacity building exercise. He also impressed upon those gathered, the importance of the GFS having accurate, relevant, and reliable statistics which would have implications nationally and even beyond.
The Fire Chief noted that those persons trained are now equipped with the requisite knowledge to represent their respective fire stations on the statistical front, which in turn would improve the reporting of statistics. As such, he urged the participants to practice what they learnt during their statistical training.
The GFS Divisional Officer- Adminis-tration with responsibility for training, Haimchandra Persaud, also echoed the importance of the capacity-building exercise, reminding that statistics play an important role in budgeting, forecasting for procurement as well as examining trends. The training, he posited, would enable a synchronized approach to data collection and analysis across fire stations countrywide.
Meanwhile, commenting on the training exercise, Chief Statistician, Errol La Cruez, said that the Bureau is pleased to collaborate with its sister agencies across the national statistical system to harness the power of data and statistics in guiding better planning and decision making.
“Firefighters are vital to keeping our communities safe and good data and statistics are critical tools supporting that effort. Through this engagement with the Guyana Fire Service, we are working to build appropriate capacity in the production and use of data and statistics that will facilitate better monitoring and evaluation, and enhanced effectiveness in the overall operations of this very important arm of our disciplined services,” he added.
