IT was an occasion for celebration at the National Cultural Centre on Wednesday, when 350 youths and single parents, accomplished and now empowered to find their niche in the world of work, graduated after having successfully completed training under the Enhanced Public Trust Security and Inclusion (EPTSI) and the single parent training programmes.
The graduating class, the majority of whom are unemployed, was drawn from communities within Regions 4, 5, 6, and 10, and benefited from training in areas such as garment construction and catering, made possible through a collaborative arrangement between the Government of Guyana and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

The implementing partner was the Ministry of Labour’s Board of Industrial Training (BIT), of which Ms. Genevieve Blackman is Chief Executive Officer/Secretary.

Among those joining the graduates in celebration were  People’s Progressive Party (PPP) Presidential Candidate and General Secretary, Mr. Donald Ramotar; Mr. Manzoor Nadir, Minister of Labour; Dr. Dale Bisnauth, Chairman; Mr. Clinton Williams, President of the Guyana Manufacturing & Services Association; Mrs. Monica Sharma, Officer in Charge of UNDP/EPSTI; Mrs. Coreen Connelly, Project Coordinator; and members of the Diplomatic Corps.

Giving a brief overview of the project, Ms. Blackman, in her opening remarks, said the initiative was the brainchild of President Bharrat Jagdeo, whose vision it was that training programmes be engineered to benefit single parents and other vulnerable categories, thereby empowering them to become gainfully employed and lead productive lives.

To this end, the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, through its Board of Industrial Training, was mandated to conduct a series of industrial training programmes throughout the length and breadth of Guyana.

With the financial assistance of donor agencies such as the UNDP and Ministry of Finance, several of these programmes were embarked upon and have been successfully completed.

Among the programmes completed to date are the Single Parents and the GOG/UNDP- EPTSI, from which 350 graduated on Wednesday.

Over the past several months, Blackman said persons of various backgrounds came together into these programmes, as virtual strangers, and through collective learning and sharing, have become bonded in pursuit of a common good.
Ms. Blackman urged the graduating class to implement what they have learnt, towards their personal development and the development of the country.
“Today marks a milestone in your life; it is the day that you begin to see the rewards of studying all these months; I will ask you now to implement what you have learnt.”

And thanking the donors, she said the Board of Industrial Training is eagerly looking forward to more such projects.

Meanwhile, PPP Presidential Candidate and General Secretary, Mr. Donald Ramotar, who delivered the charge, congratulated the graduates, stating that by building on their education, they have taken a positive and correct step in life, since the most important aspect of development is ‘the development of people’ or the human resource. He noted that where there is education, the horizons for those going after self-development becomes limitless.

“Now that you have taken a bold step in educating yourselves, you will be in a position to employ other people; but the most important thing is to try to grasp as much as you can,” he encouraged the graduates.
Ramotar urged them to see their accomplishment at this time, not as an end, but as the beginning.
“You have to be abreast with what is going on, in order to be the best you can be. Read, follow what is going on in your area, and not remain one place, or you run the risk of becoming stuck in time and obsolete.
To stand still, is to be left behind,” he warned.
Alluding to the BIT programme, Ramotar said that BIT has moved from a budget of $12M to $120M under this administration.

“In our manifesto we promised to spend $1B on the empowerment of vulnerable groups in our population but in the last five years we have spent more than that. In fact, more than $1.5B has been spent among the Ministries of Culture, Youth and Sport, Health and BIT,” Ramotar stated.
He said that many qualified persons “have left our shores” and that Guyanese  are to be found in many countries  “educating people and giving them different skills”; hence, his satisfaction that they had taken advantage of  the training offered.
Ramotar expressed the hope that they will utilise their skills to help and encourage others who have difficulties, since Guyana needs skilled and educated people for national development.
Minister of Labour, Mr. Manzoor Nadir, who also congratulated the graduates, expressed confidence that, equipped with the skills acquired over the last several months, the men and women are now in  a position to become not only self-employed, but entrepreneurs, providing employment opportunities for others within their communities, ultimately contributing to the development of the nation, and their own development.

Minister Nadir recalled that, over the five years of the existence of the programme, some 5,000 individuals, including 800 single parents, have been touched by this programme, especially in the areas of mechanics and electrical installation.
Once accepted to the programme, each trainee is furnished with $55,000 worth of tools for their trade.