THE Guyana Forestry Commission (GFC) is collaborating with the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) and the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security’s National Training Programme for Youth Empowerment (NTPYE) to create a wider range of skill sets for the forestry sector.
An announcement said the BIT has, over

the years, been very successful in providing vocational training and education to a large number of youths in every region of Guyana, equipping them with marketable skills in various occupations.
The Board was established more than 40 years ago under the Industrial Training Act, Chapter 39:04 of the Laws of Guyana to provide training opportunities for youths and to equip them with marketable skills.
Simultaneously, the GFC, in accordance with its commitments laid out in the National Forest Plan, has added this programme to the curriculum of the Forestry Training Centre Inc. (FTCI), which already offers vocational training.
The statement said this development is a direct response to the obvious dearth of skills in the forestry sector, and the primary objective is to equip approximately 300 youths with highly marketable skills that could guarantee their immediate employment within the forestry sector. This development is expected to have an impact on the reported high levels of unemployment across the nation, the GFC said.
The release said the training is diverse, and includes courses in tree identification, pre-harvest forest inventory, directional felling, heavy-duty machine equipment (bulldozer and skidder) operation, wood processing, saw doctoring, and timber grading.

NATIONAL PRIORITIES
In keeping with national priorities, the courses will necessarily include segments on critical life skills, such as combating HIV and AIDS and gender-based violence. The major portion of the training will be undertaken at the FTCI’s field-based facility located on the right bank of the Mariwa River and the left bank of the Cuyuni River.
The BIT will also add this new curriculum to the training schedules at all of its available facilities which have traditionally been used for vocational training and community development.
To date, the response to these training opportunities by youths across all regions has been encouraging. Interviews of applicants have begun, and the first batch of trainees is scheduled to start the course in June.
Applications will shortly be invited for the second round of courses, due to commence later this year; and the programmes will continue annually.