The government is continuing efforts to upskill human resources countrywide in response to the predicted need for technical skills.
A Department of Public Information (DPI) release said that one such effort is an online life skills training programme which was launched on Tuesday and is a collaboration between the Ministry of Labour’s Board of Industrial Training (BIT) and Coursera, a global online course provider.
According to DPI, so far, more than 115 persons have grasped the opportunity to register for the online life training programme. It was explained that Coursera will provide training to BIT beneficiaries in four mandatory areas including Literacy, Numeracy, Health and Wellness, and Entrepreneurship.
Once the mandatory courses are completed, participants will be permitted via their licence to pursue any course that aligns with their skills or interests.
Meanwhile, Director of the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) Jacob Opadeyi reiterated the importance of acquiring the skills being offered through this programme, noting that once learned no one can take it away.
“Life skills are skills nobody can take away from you once you have learned it and when I look at the programme that has been created for this initiative, they are skills that everybody should have in their back pockets to improve their livelihood,” Professor Opadeyi emphasised.
DPI said that Coursera is easy to use and provides applicants with the necessary guidelines needed to sign up and complete the training programme. This includes a downloading feature that allows participants to download the course via computer or app in the event of poor internet access. It also has notes, a translator, a summary, and a 24-hour live chat feature to make learning easier.
Interested persons are encouraged to visit the Board of Industrial Training office, with their identification card to register. Once this stage is completed, the applicant’s information will be added to the Coursera online platform, where Coursera representatives will carry out the final registration stage.
And for those persons who are not participants of BIT, but are interested in the programme, the CEO of BIT, Richard Maughn assured that the ministry is always willing to give persons the opportunity to empower and upskill themselves.
“So once persons make contact with us, I am sure that we will be willing to have them registered to benefit from these programmes.”
Despite the heavy focus on providing training opportunities, DPI pointed out that the ministry also has a Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA), which has a database of companies registered to assist individuals in finding a job that matches their qualifications and experience. Persons are encouraged to utilise that platform.
