Nations University to introduce related academic programmes for students    
Dr. Brian O’Toole, Director of Nations University, who recently returned from Canada and Trinidad has reported having clinched deals with universities, colleges and training centres for entering into partnerships for Oil and Gas Training in Guyana.
Essentially he tells of having formulated a five-year plan for Technical Training in the areas of electrical, mechanical and operations management in response to the oil discoveries in Guyana.
Dr. O’Toole’s trip culminated a fortnight ago, with his receiving the Caribbean Award for Education from the Society for Maintenance and Reliability Professionals (SMRP) in Trinidad.  The award was presented to Dr. O’Toole by Guyanese High Commissioner to Trinidad, Mr.  Bishwaishwar “Cammie” Ramsaroop.

But the overwhelming impression from the tour, Dr. O’Toole says, was the respect that exists for Guyana internationally and the huge potential for oil and gas to make a fundamental impact on this country.  “The theme that permeated all the discussions was the need to establish readily available, internationally accredited training programmes for technicians to ensure Guyanese play a key role in the development, and not merely observe the changes from the sidelines,” Dr. O’ Toole said.

Excited about the prospects, Dr. O’Toole reported having found “every door open” on his visit to Trinidad.”  He said a partnership is to be signed with Linda Mohamed, the Director of Trinizuela Vocational College (TTVC) .  TTVC has been in operation in Trinidad and Tobago for more than 50 years and has graduated thousands of students in more than 50 City and Guilds courses in plumbing, masonry, electrical installations and other areas.
Part of that collaboration will also include a pre-engineering course aimed at students who have left school, with humble or no qualifications. This training will
focus on: Mathematics, English, Employability Skills and Technical Training.

A course will also be developed for students in Forms Two, Three and Four to expose them in possible areas in the areas of technology and to help them move past the misconception that ‘studying technical subjects  is for  the non-academic students.’
A collaboration has also been established with Keeter Sutherland and their key persons Kuarala Rampersaul and Ganesh Ramsahai to introduce a series of short training Oil and Gas related courses at Nations in a variety of areas.
While there, Dr. O’Toole met with a major technical training company in Trinidad to explore the possibility of their developing a collaboration with Nations in the area of technical training.

Canada 
Leaving Trinidad, he proceeded to Canada where he followed up leads developed from the visit of 26 persons from Canada who came to Guyana a couple weeks ago, hosted by the Canadian High Commission in Guyana.
In Calgary, he met with representatives of major Colleges and Universities to develop training partnerships. He was also invited to visit the AER Core Research Centre where he was given a tour of the facilities that house core samples from drills throughout the province. Discussions were also held with the Canadian Petroleum Institute in Calgary to see the possible areas of collaboration.
Dr. O’Toole said there were follow-up meetings with training agencies in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland.  He also stopped in Toronto to sign two agreements with prominent Ontario schools.

Partner exchange visits
Meanwhile, a group of London International Academy (LIA) now plans to receive a group of 14 students from Nations at the end of December, to partner with local students in developing STEM and Robotics training.  The LIA students will, in turn, come to Nations next year to further develop this partnership.
Additionally, a partnership was signed with Nancy Campbell Academy in Stratford, Ontario. NCA is one of the top schools in Ontario.  They focus, in particular, on the performing arts and the promotion of World Citizenship.  A team from NCA will come to Nations in January to work with students here to learn how to promote the performing arts.  The NCA team will then come to Nations in Easter and in the summer to present dance workshops throughout the country.

The final visit of Dr. O’Toole’s tour was to a training agency in Nova Scotia.  This has led to a formal partnership with Nations to introduce a five-year technical training programme in Guyana, in the area of electrical, mechanical and operational areas.  To formalise the partnership, the two directors of the training agency are due to Nations in late October.

The overwhelming impression from the tour, Dr. O’Toole says, was the respect that exists for Guyana internationally and the huge potential for Oil and Gas to make a fundamental impact on this country.  The theme that permeated all the above discussions was the need to establish readily-available, internationally accredited training programmes for technicians to ensure Guyanese play a key role in the development, and not merely observe the changes from the sidelines.