SOME 120 certificates were yesterday distributed to persons who completed vocational courses at the Mon Repos Development Centre.

The graduation ceremony was held at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre on High Street, Georgetown, and persons graduated from courses in cake and pastry making, floral arrangements, catering and food preparation, cake decoration, curtain making, nail artistry and cosmetology.
Coordinator of the centre, Padmini Singh, related that the courses were all for a duration of three months and that the centre continuously runs these courses all year long.
Chairperson of the Women and Gender Equality Commission, Indra Chandarpal, who delivered the feature address, told the graduates, who were mainly women, with the exception of a lone young man, that women are equal partners in the development of the country.
She stressed that women can do anything that needs to be done, even in those fields which were previously dominated by males, noting that this is made even easier with the advancement of technology.
Chandarpal stated that there is nothing stopping a woman from doing the things traditionally done by a man, and also there is nothing stopping a man from taking up some of the things traditionally expected from a woman, such as helping out around the house.
She told several stories to demonstrate just how far women have come in society, from the pre-independence era to present day, and said that today women have taken control of their own lives. This was reflective, she said, in the number of women graduating from the various courses.
Coordinator of the Women’s Leadership Institute, Sheila Veerasammy, who was also present, spoke of coordination between the two agencies. She informed the graduates about some of the courses offered at the institute and encouraged them to participate.
Special congratulations were extended to the only male who graduated, who, it is hoped, will be an inspiration to other males to get involved in similar activities.