129 graduate from BIT training programmes
The graduates at the BIT Youth Empowerment graduation ceremony
The graduates at the BIT Youth Empowerment graduation ceremony

By Shirley Thomas

THE Board of Industrial Training (BIT) has, last Thursday, graduated 129 students from the Ministry of Social Protection’s National Training Project for Youth Empowerment (MTPYE) during a ground-breaking ceremony at the National Cultural Centre.

Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence, delivering the feature address
Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence, delivering the feature address

It was a watershed moment, since, according to BIT Chairman Clinton Williams, it was about the biggest ever graduating class the entity has produced in Region Four.
Joining the graduands in celebration were the BIT chairman; Minister of Social Protection, Volda Lawrence; Permanent Secretary Loreen Baird; Region Four Chairman, Genevieve Allen; other BIT officials and trainers, and relatives and friends of the graduating students.

The feature address was delivered by Minister Lawrence, while Mr. Clinton Williams gave a background and update on the project. Remarks were also delivered by Winifred Kippins, Director (ag) of the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education of the University of Guyana.

BIT Chairman Clinton Williams
BIT Chairman Clinton Williams

There were also reflections by trainees of the Eccles Training Centre, sharing their experiences during the programme.

Lawrence extended congratulations to the graduands for their accomplishment, and to the teaching staff as well as parents and guardians, who ably provided the trainees with support at various levels.

PARENTAL ROLE
The minister also cautioned parents against neglecting and leaving children to their own devices in a world of drugs, abuse, alcohol and crime. She reminded parents that their job is not only to give encouragement, but also to redirect the children when they are headed in the wrong direction.

Reminding them that they are now ‘marketable’ with the newly-acquired skills, the minister commended the graduands for responding positively to the training

Collina Johnson, BIT Technical Officer (Photos by Cullen Bess-Nelson)
Collina Johnson, BIT Technical Officer (Photos by Cullen Bess-Nelson)

and for sticking it out to the end, so that they can now deservedly experience a sense of accomplishment.

She lauded those who graduated in Care for the Elderly, noting that the elderly represents one of the vulnerable groups in society, so this is an area of great need to which the trainees have responded.

The minister had kudos for the dedicated staff and officers of BIT, for the critical part they played in providing youths with the requisite skills and tools to function in the Guyanese society, and for undertaking the task of influencing their young minds in the direction of self-worth, competence, self-reliance and self-sufficiency.

Minister Lawrence urged the graduands not to be satisfied with what they had just achieved. “You have the potential to rise to greater heights, and so I challenge you to be creative and pursue your own development. You have within you your passport to a good life; do not be laid back, but press on and be innovative. Make good use of your entrepreneurial skills, for this is the only way you can utilize the resources that you have at your disposal,” she advised the graduands.

TRAILBLAZERS
And in a second charge, following the distribution of certificates, Region Four Chairperson Ms Genevieve Allen challenged the graduands to be skills-oriented in order to live an empowered life.

She charged them to be trailblazers for the development of Guyana, and to have a vision of what they would this country to be within the next 25 years.

Allen also called on the graduates to continue to apply themselves diligently, and set themselves a goal so one day they would be able to attain a Bachelors or Master’s degree in the areas of their endeavours, building upon what they would have started at BIT.

The Board of Industrial Training executes national training for capacity-building and youth empowerment, to benefit youths from different walks of life in the areas of technical vocation and training; and in many cases, has been able to assist graduates in finding employment.

Courses offered include auto mechanics, welding and fabrication, catering and cake decoration, information technology and office procedure, personal computer repairs, heavy-duty equipment operation, care for the elderly, catering and commercial food preparation, and other life skills.

Other areas covered include law and order, self-esteem, moral values, English, mathematics, micro-enterprise, and sexual and reproductive health.

The programme, conducted over a period of six months, catered for persons between the ages of 15 and 30. It has recently been extended to persons who are 35 years old.

Females have continued to outnumber males on the programmes, with a ratio of 55:45.

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