-Guyana, CDB sign agreement for skills development

GUYANA signed a US$14M agreement with the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB) for a Skills Development and Employability Project aimed at enhancing Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) here.
Guyana will continue to work together with the CDB to enhance the country’s development in this area and according to Minister of Finance, Winston Jordan, the signing of the agreement with the CDB demonstrates Government’s commitment to enhancing the skills of its people. The US$14M project is scheduled to begin on June 30, 2017 and concludes on December 31, 2021 and is geared at assisting the Government to enhance access to, and improve the quality and effectiveness of the TVET system.
The Finance Minister in expressing gratitude to the CDB at the signing event held in the Turks and Caicos on Tuesday said that his administration has committed to providing “a good life in a green economy” to its people and intends to fulfill that promise.
In a bid to ensure that the “good life” is materialized, the Finance Minister stressed the need to develop the country’s human resources.
“Education remains the cornerstone to economic development and is seen as the golden ticket to a better life. A highly educated and skilled workforce is necessary, though not sufficient, condition for the diversification of Guyana’s economy, and the harnessing of our vast natural and mineral resources in a way that supports sustained growth and improved living conditions,” Jordan said.

Moreover, Jordan lamented the dismal performance of many students at the Caribbean Secondary Education Council Examinations and said those results show, “that the majority of our secondary level cohort is not up to the standard required for tertiary level education.”
In support of his point, the Finance Minister referenced an article written by Dr. Errol Morrison, President of University of Technology Jamaica, who said “students emerging from secondary schools are weak…tertiary level educators will need to salvage a significant number of the failing secondary level cohort by assisting them to improve their performance, interesting them in the acquisition of skills pertinent to the needs of the country and so recruiting person-power to meet the needs of the workforce.”
As such, Jordan said the evidence is clear and it is not surprising that the recommendation found resonance at a recently concluded governor’s meeting of the Islamic Development Bank themed “Youth Economic Empowerment.”

Meanwhile, the Minister stressed that his Government’s focus is to strengthening secondary and tertiary levels education by enhancing the schools’ curricula, especially in the areas of science and technology. This, he said, involves the development of smart classrooms through e-government systems; enhancing teacher competence via improved toolkits and supervision in the classroom; building state-of-the-art schooling facilities and ensuring alignment of schooling standards to CVQ standards, and other regional and international standards.

Through these services, the Finance Minister said his administration intends to equip all secondary and tertiary graduates with universal skills which would assist in reducing coastal/hinterland and ethnic income disparities, “by promoting inclusive growth through increased participation of the poor in the labour market. It is well known and a proven fact.”
The Minister strongly believes that allowing populations to access quality and higher levels education, poverty will be reduced and noted that the important role of tertiary education as a key generator of development and economic growth cannot be overstated.
Referencing the emerging oil and gas sector here, the Minister of Finance said there needs to be innovative academic pursuits to address the ever increasing needs and challenges of a new and diversified economy.
Jordan noted Guyana’s 2017 budgetary allocation of $43.1 B for education out of a $250B budget,out of which $50M has been set aside for the establishment of a Youth Innovation Fund geared at nurturing, exciting and realizing the potential and creative energies of both in-school and out-of-school youth in STEM areas.
Meanwhile, the Finance Minister said the new programme in TVET will continue to address national educational level challenges and labour market demands of a dynamic, growing economy.

“It is also envisaged that this US$11.5 million programme will breathe new life into the entrepreneurial spirit of the country, as yet another means of tackling youth unemployment and under-employment,” he stated while re-affirming Guyana’s commitment to the CDB.
He thanked the Bank for the work done to prepare and finalise the agreements for the Project and noted the hard work of the Ministries of Finance and Education in ensuring the project became a reality.
Also present at the signing ceremony were President of the CDB, Dr. Warren Smith, CDB’s Vice- President Corporate Services, Yvette Seale, and Vice- President CDB Operations, Monica La Benett, among others. (GINA)