A CAREER Day competition for 65 schools around coastal Guyana was launched last Thursday, with manager of the host company, Ms. Natheeah King-Mendonca announcing details for the preliminary rounds of the competition. The event, which is being spearheaded by Assured Services, a relatively new service-oriented firm on the market, was held at the National Library’s Conference Room, with brief remarks being made by Mendonca and Assistant Chief Education Officer, Ms Leslyn Charles.
Also on hand to lend their support, moral and otherwise, to the initiative were the representatives of donor entities like Sterling Products Ltd; Unicomer Guyana Inc; Ansa McAl; and New India Assurance.
The preliminary rounds of the competition, Mendonca said, will be held this Thursday and Friday at the Girl Guides’ Association Pavilion on Brickdam, from 09:30hrs.
Participants in Category 1 (the 11-13 age group) will present on Thursday, while those in Category 2 (in the 14-16 age group) will present on Friday.
The Final Round of the competition will be held on February 5 at the Theatre Guild on Parade Street, Kingston from 09:30hrs.
PRIZES
There will be three winners in each category, namely those who would have placed 1st, 2nd and 3rd, but only the winning school will receive a prize. All prizes will be awarded in either kind or voucher and not in cash.
For Category 1: 1st Place Winner: $50,000 +trophy; 2nd Place Winner: $35,000 + trophy; and 3rd Place Winner: $25,000 +trophy. The winning school will receive prize(s) valued $75,000.
For Category 2: 1st Place Winner: $75,000 + trophy; 2nd Place Winner: $50,000 + trophy; and 3rd Place Winner: $25,000 + trophy.
The winning school in this latter category will receive prize(s) valued $100,000. A point to note, however, is that all participants, regardless of category, will receive a token of appreciation.
The competition is divided into three segments, namely: Introduction; Demonstration/Presentation and Interview.
According to Mendonca, ‘Assured’, which offers professional services in such areas as Marketing, Public Relations, Data Entry, Research and Analysis, and Graphics Designs, came up with the initiative after recognising the need for, and understanding the importance of contributing to the enhancement of the education system that nurtured us.
“We think that an event like this is considered an important component in the goals for children, because it can be further developed to meet the expectations of both the public and private sectors within our society,” she declared.
A GUIDE
Moreover, the whole purpose to the exercise, she said, is to introduce children to varying professions, and at the same time guide their thinking towards making career decisions for the future.
She said that while it is recognised that children growing up aspire to pursue varying professions or occupations, due to challenges, those dreams may very well be out of their reach, or never materialise because they were not properly guided.
‘Assured’ is of the view that exposure to an event like this, at this stage of the children’s lives, presents an opportunity to provide them with information and guidance when making career choices, or knowing what they want to be when they get older.
The children involved have been going through a period of coaching by their teachers, as well as doing their own research so that they’ll know what is expected of them as they head into the preliminaries.
Meanwhile, ACEO Charles, who commended ‘Assured’ on the initiative, spoke of the importance of providing guidance to our students in terms of their careers, defining guidance in this context as providing care or assistance to another person.
Through guidance, she said, children are able to make smart choices about their education, their desired career relationships and careers. Guidance helps them to feel supported; that there is someone or some group of persons forming a support base for them – be it in school, at institutions such as the Church, or any part of the environment where that positive support can be found. It is a way of providing help in setting professional goals and developing strategies for getting where they want to be.
By Shirley Thomas