ONE of the fundamental principles of the People’s Progressive Party / Civic (PPP/C) administration is equitable access to education; and thousands of youths over the last decade have been benefiting from life skills training through the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, under the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) and National Training Programme for Youth Empowerment (NTPYE). More recently, a training programme for single parents has been added.
Another facet of this reality was yesterday furthered when yet another batch of over 200 youths and single parents from the ancient county, Berbice, graduated after completing more than 240 hours of training in several skills areas, including heavy-duty equipment, mechanics, care for elderly, and catering.
Senior Project Manager of the One Laptop Per Family (OLPF), Sesh Sukhdeo, in his address on behalf of Minister of Labour Manzoor Nadir, told graduates that government continues to work tirelessly to ensure that the lives of the vulnerable are significantly enhanced through social programmes.
“Over 16,000 people have benefited from skills improvement over the last years, through the Ministry of Labour…and the Government of Guyana should be credited for such advancement in the labour sector,” Sukhdeo said.
He said that skills acquired by the graduates are meeting the needs of today and “will even be in greater demand in the future, as the country continues to develop”.
“The training is delivered at the level of which everyone understands…so what the government is doing is providing the opportunity, it’s now up to you take that skill and apply it,” Sukhdeo said.
He also used the opportunity to inform the graduates of other services being offered by the Ministry of Labour, including the Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency (CRMA), that has been providing jobs for thousands of Guyanese.
Sukhdeo also encouraged them to be aware of the technological development taking place in Guyana.
In this regard, he informed them of the OLPF programme that will see 90,000 families benefiting over a two-year period.
With this in mind, Sukhdeo urged them to further advance their skills in Information Technology.
Sukhdeo used the occasion to urge single parents who have benefited from the programme to take advantage of the Women of Worth Programme (WOW), an initiative between the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security and the Guyana Bank for Trade and Industry (GBTI) that affords female single parents the opportunity to access loans ranging from $100,000 to $250,000, to establish and expand small businesses.
Since 2006, over 800 single parents across the country were positively touched by the programmes and initiatives of the PPP/C administration.
BIT moved from a budget of $12M to $120M in 2011.
Chairman of BIT, Dr. Dale Bisnauth, who was also at the graduation, urged graduates to use the skills acquired to better their lives and work to develop their respective communities.  (GINA)