Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton says that the government has invested significant resources through an “inter-ministerial” collaborative approach to facilitate much-needed programmes to empower the young population.
He made the argument on Wednesday during his presentation at the Third Session of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent in Geneva, Switzerland.
According to a Ministry of Labour press statement, Hamilton said that the Government of Guyana has reaffirmed its commitment to its transformative development agenda of leaving no one behind by providing equal access to educational opportunities.
“This approach will then ensure the creation of a qualified workforce capable of meeting the demands of the country’s current and emerging industries,” the release quoted him as saying.
He said that fostering Article 17 of the Draft Declaration is a policy priority for the Government of Guyana as they continue to provide free education from nursery to secondary levels, the release said.
“We have already attained universal primary education and aim to attain universal secondary education by 2026. Most notably, every school child, whether attending a public or private school, receives an annual voucher of US$200. We are moving incrementally towards free tertiary education at the University of Guyana,” he was quoted as saying.
“To ensure its efforts that no one is left behind, the government partnered with the Greater Guyana Initiative to conceptualize a comprehensive yet innovative [technical and vocational education training] programme to develop the local workforce and entrepreneurship, thus promoting sustainable economic diversification in Guyana.”
According to the release, so far, under this technical umbrella, 48 percent of the female population has participated in non-traditional technical areas with the potential of being employed due to their certification.
The minister also touched on the success of the Guyana Online Aca-demy of Learning launched by the Government, in 2021 to offer 20,000 tertiary-level scholarships by 2025 which he highlighted has already reached its target, benefitting over 60 percent of female participants, the release said.
In addition to this, over 8,000 women have benefited from self-employment training programmes offered by the Women’s Innovation and Investment Network, it added.
