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The Chairman for the Council of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) was addressing the Kuru Kuru Training Centre graduation ceremony last week.
“It is recognised internationally that the rate of a country’s economic development is intricately linked to its productivity and international competitiveness,” Williams declares, highlighting that the two factors are predominantly reliant on the country’s knack to build a sustainable labour force.
He posits, therefore, that the survival of the private sector depends heavily on the education system’s response to the evolution of technological and economic change, even as the world continues to evolve into a new socio-economic and technological climate.
He adds that although Guyana’s gross domestic product (GDP) for the last three years has been in excess of 5 % per annum, there have traces of significant skill shortages in ‘traditional’ sectors.
Skill shortages in main sectors
“The main sectors which have been contributing to this performance (the 5 % excess) are mining, particularly gold and diamond, building and construction and ICT, all of which have been averaging in excess of over 20% growth rates…unfortunately in all these sectors there have been reported skill shortages.”
When he lined the shortages up against skill ‘poaching’ between sectors and migration, he says that traditional sectors like sugar, rice and forestry have suffered the effects of high local prices and potential ‘uncompetitiveness’ in the export market. But he notes, however, that against this dire situation, new sectors are surfacing.
“Against this background new sectors are emerging such as oil and gas exploration, hydropower development, hopefully we get there soon, and spin-off industries from the Guyana LCD initiative.”
Williams points out that the absence of scientific and credible labour market data, the surge of migration, predominantly in the engineering trades, and the deficient involvement and support from the local private sector in providing “exposures for in-plant facilities,” have an immense impact on the variance between occupational skills needed by the private sector and the skills generated by the formal and informal technical and vocational education and training institutions.
He states also that, “The absence of a national administrative framework, inclusive of realistic and pertinent incentives and/or disincentives for the private sector to be meaningfully involved in the entire skill education and training cycle,” has also added to the dire condition.
Recently TVET and the Statistical Bureau of the Ministry of Labour had conducted a Labour Market Intelligence survey within the mining sector “in response to the need for quantification of manpower resources requirements for this sub-sector under the current CDN$20M Caribbean Education for Employment Project.” Williams says also that TVET and the ministry is currently implementing via the utilisation of Inter-American Development Bank funding a comprehensive Labour Market Intelligence survey.
Analysis will be conducted in the manufacturing, forestry, hospitality, commerce and engineering and construction sectors and will zoom in on the determination of demand and supply of “adequate skilled artisans or entry level occupational skills.”
According to Williams, the TVET council is in the process of introducing several initiatives for TVET nationally. “These include the implementation of a national strategy for assessment and verification and the implementation of quality assurance guidelines for Guyana to be recognised as an accreditation body for the Caribbean Vocational Qualifications, among others,” he notes.
