The Board of Industrial Training (BIT) continues to help train youths to be a part of Guyana’s economic boom and this time it has collaborated with the Male Empowerment Network (MEN) and United States Agency for International Develop-ment (USAID)-Youth Resilience Inclusion and Empowerment (Y- RIE) programme to launch the Guyana Ignite programme with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, a BIT release stated on Wednesday.
The event took place at Cara Lodge, Quamina Street, Georgetown, and the collaboration is expected to provide comprehensive professional development and workforce readiness for at- risk youth residing in communities, such as, Sophia, New Amsterdam, Charlestown, Werk-en-Rust, and Albouystown.
According to the BIT, the initial stage of the programme will be for 10 weeks and will focus on employability skills training with essential topics as effective communication, values and goals, self-care, and exploring personal talents and passions. After the first phase, participants will learn about entrepreneurship, employment, and technical and vocational education and training programmes.
Attendees at the launch included Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton, BIT CEO/Secretary, Richard Maughn; Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, Nateica Garra-way; Chargé d’Affaires, Adrienne Galanek; and Country Director of Y-RIE & Ignite, Tiffany Daniels.
In his remarks, the minister implored the the private sector to become actively involved to ensure success and expansion of initiatives that are created to improve the lives of the future generation.
“I call upon our private sector partners to open their business for exposure tours, volunteer their time as mentors, and engage more deeply with our programmes. The data from our National Apprenticeship Scheme highlights the limited private sector involvement, which can impact our ability to reduce mismatches in the Labour market.”
