CANADIAN High Commissioner to Guyana, Dr. Nicole Giles has disclosed that the Government of Canada will be contributing CAN$20M towards strengthening distance education in the Caribbean.She made this disclosure while delivering remarks yesterday at the signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Education Ministry and the Machinery Corporation of Guyana (Macorp) at Macorp in Providence on the East Bank of Demerara.

According to the Canadian High Commissioner, this project will be implemented by the University of the West Indies and aims to increase access to post-secondary education for remote and underserved communities using distance education technology.

Dr. Giles informed that the University of Guyana will participate in this project by collaborating on the design and delivery of academic programmes.

Meanwhile, she also announced that the Government of Canada through the CARICOM Education for Employment project will be offering a partnership in Guyana between the Government Technical Institute (GTI) and three leading Canadian community colleges.

These community colleges are Durham College, College of the North Atlantic and the Marine Institute, and this new partnership will focus on developing a much needed programme in automotive electronics.

Dr. Guiles took the opportunity to laud the private sector support in similar initiatives to date and encouraged this sector to support GTI in developing this new programme so that industry needs are reflected and sustainable jobs for Guyanese are assured.
Written By Chriseana Ramrekha