The government is continuing on its path to equip Guyanese with the necessary vocational skills in keeping with the demand for the skilled labour needed for the country’s development.
In keeping with this initiative, 292 additional heavy duty equipment operators were today added to the country’s skilled workforce following a graduation ceremony in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne), a Ministry of Finance release stated yesterday.
The training programme was a collaborative effort between the Ministry of Finance’s Basic Needs Trust Fund (BNTF) and the Ministry of Labour’s Board of Industrial Training (BIT) and allows for public and private sector employment of all trainees in the field, especially with the country currently on a fast-paced development trajectory, the release said.
It said the programme targeted persons from three different areas in the region and formed part of the ongoing and already concluded training programmes that the administration has been implementing over the past four years across all regions of the country and facilitated through the BIT and various technical institutes countrywide.
The ceremony yesterday saw 247 men and 45 women graduating from the programme, a further demonstration of the government’s aim to include women in all fields of employment as well as empower them through access to education, training and employment, the release said. Graduates hailed from New Amsterdam, Hampshire and Upper Corentyne as well the outskirts of these communities.
The programme commenced in September 2023 and lasted three months. It offered students practical training in operating the tractor, excavator, skidsteer, and forklift, allowing for the trainees to be certified by BIT as heavy-duty equipment operators, the release said.
Senior Minister in the Office of the President with Responsibility for Finance and the Public Service Dr Ashni Singh, who delivered remarks at the ceremony, congratulated the graduates, reminding them that the government needs them especially at the rate the economy is growing in the various areas and sectors, the release said. It added that the volume of work is greater than any other time in the country’s history.
“You now have a skill to be able to take advantage of that opportunity to apply your skill, to earn an income, to save up a bit and maybe potentially at some point you can set up your own business,” Singh was quoted as saying. “Out of a batch of 113 in New Amsterdam we are graduating 108. In Central Corentyne we started with a batch of 112 and out of that batch we are graduating 89 and in Upper Corentyne we started with a batch of 105 and we are graduating 95. Out of the 292 we are graduating today, 45 are women.”
He also explained to the graduates, the release said, that various companies were on the ground at the graduation ceremony so that upon its conclusion, the graduates could sign up to be employed; the companies included those located in Berbice as well as other areas, including Georgetown.
The minister also told the trainees that success requires hard work, noting that there is no country in the world in which money is simply shared and people don’t have to work, therefore commitment and dedication to a job were important, the release said. “Don’t be under any illusion about success. There is no shortcut. You are getting a certificate today and I am hoping that all of you will succeed. You have the capacity here to earn a decent and very respectable income but for you to earn that, you can’t turn up some days and not turn up other days,” he was quoted as advising them, while urging them to report to work on time at their prospective new jobs
Singh disclosed that programmes like these will be replicated across the country, especially where there is a significant demand for training programmes, the release said.
Speaking about the various training programmes under his ministry, Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton, who also delivered remarks at the ceremony, reiterated the government’s commitment to the training and development of young people in all regions as he referenced the various training programmes done through the BIT over the years, not only in heavy duty machinery operation, but also other necessary areas to develop their skills and increase their chances to become employable, the release said. He listed some of the various programmes being offered in other fields by BIT. Every person trained as a heavy-duty equipment operator by the BIT is provided with a licence.
According to the release, since returning to office in August 2020, the government has created approximately 60,000 new jobs, surpassing its 2020 manifesto promise of 50,000 new jobs. Now, with the economy booming and expanding at an exponential rate in all sectors, the country is experiencing labour shortages which the government is partnering with the private sector, other agencies and training institutions, to fil, it added.
