PERFORMANCE REVIEW 2013- 2016: Region Six

By Clinton Williams

OVER the years 2013 to 2016, the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) has focused on intensifying the delivery of relevant occupational, technical and vocational skills training with a view to addressing entry-level occupational skills demand for current and emerging industries/Services i.e both the public and private sector. For this period, emphasis was placed on vulnerable groups such as School Dropouts, Youths from Depressed Communities (particularly including hinterland regions), Single Parents and the Differently-Abled. In addition, we shall continue our quest to implement cost-reduction strategies, thereby increasing intake via optimizing utilization of publicly-owned facilities such as technical and vocational institutions and Practical Instruction Centres (Ministry of Education) and recognised NGOs at the expense of privately-owned facilities. Indeed, key institutions in Region Six such as the Upper Corentyne Industrial Training Centre, the Guysuco Training Centre – Port Mourant and NGOs such as the national award-winning Roadside Baptist Skills Training Centre, have enabled significant improvements in qualitative deliverance of programmes. We are convinced that these actions have not only positively impacted on employment generation, entrepreneurship and empowerment, but also have contributed to poverty alleviation and crime prevention. These programmes therefore should be viewed as vital socio-economic initiatives at this juncture of the current administration interventions to provide a good life for all of the people of Guyana.

We are pleased to report that for the years 2013 to 2015, a total of 6043 occupational skills have been generated countrywide with an anticipated number of 1609 skills to be generated in 2016. This brings us a total of over 20,000 Techvoc Skills from the inception of the NTYPE Programmes in 2006. As regards the traditional 105-year-old Apprenticeship Programmes, 97 highly skilled craftsmen skills have been produced and the number of Masters (Apprenticeship Service Providers) has increased from15 in 2013 to 17 in 2016. The NTYPE Programmes are executed in all of the regions in Guyana with the exception of Region Eight, which is expected to come on stream later this year.

The main skill profiles for which training was conducted were Engineering, Building Construction, Health Services, Home Economics and Forestry. As regards gender balance, the ratio of female to male graduates was 55:45 in 2015 and we continue to target those sectors for which demand was greatest. Refocusing on the delivery of skills for the industrial sector ensured that training for the engineering and building construction sectors generated on average 40% of the total skills. In this aspect as well, gender mainstreaming was evident by the percentage of females in these traditionally male-dominated sectors increasing from 2% in 2013 to 12% in 2015.
In Region Six, BIT’s partnership with the UCITC on the Saturday class programme has focused on the development of technical competencies to now three batches of graduates, with a total of 347 persons benefiting from the progamme from its advent in 2014 to present. Region Six is also home to the Roadside Baptist Skills Training Centre, an institution which the BIT and the Ministry of Social Protection has proudly collaborated with for more than four years. In addition to generating employable skills in pc repairs and maintenance, electrical installation and plumbing among others, the RBSTC also partners with the ministry on topical issues facing today’s youth, including suicide prevention, gender-based violence etc. This holistic approach has been advocated by BIT and the ministry as a remedial measure to combat youth unemployment.
Some of our other main accomplishments during this period were the following:
> Prioritising of our short-term objectives and goals by revamping our strategic plan through the involvement of all the major stakeholders.
> Establishment of closer collaboration with CRMA and TVET in order to obtain credible labour market data in the determination of realistic demand and by extension offering continuing career guidance to all of our Trainees.
> Improvement of our collaboration and better coordination among the formal and non-formal Tech Voc Institutions, hence the reduction and/or duplication of a number of Tech Voc Programmes, while at the same time increasing focus on employment generation and empowerment. Our Heavy Duty Equipment Operation (HDEO) Programme has been leading in this regard with over 50 persons trained at the programme at the UCITC. Recognising the demand for HDEO in the region, the BIT is now collaborating with the NATI for a new HDEO programme which commenced on the 11th July 2016. As regards quality and reliability of our programmes, we have been forging closer collaboration with the TVET Council towards programme implementation and competency-based life skills and entrepreneurial skills training with a view to ensuring that all our graduates are certified with the recognised NVQ and ultimately with the CVQ Status when this comes on stream.
> Intensification of our quest to implement cost-reduction strategies via optimizing the use of publicly owned facilities such as Technical Institutes, the Practical Instruction Centres (PIC’s) attached to the Ministry of Education, Guysuco Training Centre (Port Mourant) the Kuru Kuru Training Facility and internationally recognised privately owned NGOs, rather than the hitherto (limited resourced) privately owned facilities.
> Intensify our collaboration with Regional Administrations as well as the involvement of those private sector companies that are adequately equipped with the capability and capacity in the provision of in-plant facilities. These relationships have been vital in the realisation of a hands-on approach with respect to in-plant training and in the determination of the curricula and course content of the respective training programmes.
> Developing an inclusive skills development programme, and implementing a model for training differently abled persons for employment and entrepreneurial skills training.
> Finally, we are pleased to report that we were fortunate to acquire and now occupy our own facilities for the administration and execution of our work programmes countrywide. In addition, we were able with these newly-acquired facilities to improve our overall governance and management performance through effective alignment and management of our human, information and capital resources via increased efficiency in the management-reporting process, implementation of MIS tailored to suit the needs of BIT,thorough and structured financial controls and administrative policies.

As regards the way forward, we are convinced that the actions and interventions we have taken will not only positively impact on increased employment generation, entrepreneurship and empowerment, but also contribute to significant improvement in the delivery system and in particular the quality of our graduands with respect to their competency levels. This particular attribute will in turn serve us in good stead as we strive to upgrade our Techvoc programme from NVQ status to the recently accredited CVQ status.

That is why we continue to hold the view that our programmes have been and shall continue to positively impact on the socio economic systems as useful interventions to poverty alleviation and crime prevention and by extension meaningfully contribute to the current Administration’s policies and programmes, which are focused on providing a good life for all of the people of Guyana.