Sixty officers from the Guyana Prison Service have received their certificates after completing the University of Guyana’s Institute for Human Resiliency, Strategic Security, and the Future (IHRSSF), First Responders Course on Mental, Neurological, and Substance Abuse Disorders (MNS).
At a simple graduation ceremony held on Wednesday in the George Walcott Lecture Theatre at the university’s Turkeyen campus, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Guyana, Professor Paloma Mohamed-Martin, thanked the government, IDB, and other supporters, and urged the officers to make full use from what they have learnt.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Institutional Advancement, Dr. Mellissa Ifill, who also attended the event, expressed gratitude for the collaborative efforts that brought the programme to fruition. She highlighted the partnership’s origins in 2016, and the impactful projects completed, including documenting the history of the Guyana Prison Service and a four-year research project on MNS disorders.
Another attendee, Acting Deputy Director of Prisons, Kevin Pilgrim, in thanking the university for the collaborative effort, noted that the programme was designed to build the capacity of prison staff to detect, intervene, offer basic support, and make referrals for inmates with MNS disorders.
And Director of Guyana Prison Service, Nicklon Elliot, expressed his delight at the competition of the course, underscoring the prison service’s commitment to empower staff performance which will result in their personal transformation.
He emphasised the need for ongoing training at the tertiary level to meet current needs of the organisation which will aid in the delivery of service provided by the prison system.
