STUDENTS at Technical and Vocational Training Centres at Mahaicony, Leonora and the Upper Corentyne will now benefit from stipends introduced by the Government after approval by Cabinet. A Government statement issued Friday noted that Cabinet has agreed to the proposal for the Ministry of Education to pay the stipends to students at Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Centres at the three locations.
Students from Mahaicony and Upper Corentyne will be paid $2,500 per month, while those from Leonora will be paid $4,000 per month. This took effect from September 1, 2016.
The Government explained that these centres were established to provide second opportunities for youths to develop skills that would enable them to obtain gainful employment.
Further, the statement pointed out that for the past three years it was observed that approximately only 46 per cent of the students enrolled managed to graduate.
“The major reason for this was cited as the high cost of transportation. It was also noted that the completion rate for courses given in collaboration with other institutions such as the Board of Industrial Training where stipends were given, was much higher,” the statement said.