THE Critchlow Labour College (CLC) is rolling out a plethora of novel and exciting training programmes, in its bid to effectively educate and prepare the nation’s youth for entrepreneurship and leadership positions at varying levels, ‘before, during and after oil.’
The new programmes, some of which are already underway, will be executed in addition to its traditional core training programmes in its curriculum. So says Administrative Director of the CLC, Mr. Bissesar Chintermanie during an exclusive interview with the Pepperpot Magazine.

Chintermanie, who gave a background to the college and what it has to offer, outlined that the core subjects originally offered were largely based on the Social Sciences and were of one year’s duration. These include Certificate programmes in Industrial Relations and Management, Social Studies, Human Resource Management, Management, Health and Safety and Child Care.

Curriculum review
The CLC was established in 1967, out of the trade union body, with a mandate to offer training for trade union and other workers and today has emerged as a key academic training institution in Guyana.

More recently, the college did a complete strategic review of its curriculum which is divided into three centres: The Critchlow Labour College; The Critchlow Labour College Centre of Business Excellence; and the Critchlow Labour College for Oil and Gas – all currently up and running.

Today, there are more than 30 programmes, ranging from certificate to diploma level, and more recently a Post-Graduate Diploma/MSC Programme in Food Security and Climate Change, the Director said.

The Certificate in Industrial and Social Studies (ISS) is a one-year programme and is the CLC’s flagship programme. It is accepted as an entrance qualification at the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Guyana. Meanwhile, the MB also offered at the College, is a post-graduate programme aimed at developing entrepreneurial skills in the business sector.

CLC also offers diploma courses for applicants, part of the criteria for which should be a certificate in one of its core one-year courses at the certificate level. Then there is the ‘Certificate in Further Access to Education’ (CFAE) (much in demand) – a second chance for persons who would not have initially secured the grades required to enter the University of Guyana.

Centre for Agricultural and Environmental Studies (CLC-CAES)
In 2017, the CLC celebrated its 50th anniversary and on that occasion established the Guyana Climate Change and Food Security Institute (GCCFSI) and the CLC Centre for Agricultural and Environmental Studies (CAES). This was done with the aim of “allowing people the opportunity to be involved in agriculture and to realise their full potential to create wealth, at the same time preserving and conserving the environment for future generations,”Chintermanie explained.

In this regard, CLC continues to render quality, demand-driven training and has reviewed its programme and is offering more specific and relevant training for the sector, which is reflective of the industry’s needs.

Giving a sneak peek into the programmes and what they offer, the administrative director said: “What we try to do, is to make the courses more flexible or more accommodating. In effect, we are trying to make them very flexible, because we know agriculture, for example, can take on diverse connotations and experience has shown that young people are looking for more office kind of jobs, as opposed to jobs where the field-based training is mandatory. They see this as a challenge, but it’s amazing how the stakeholders are making it exciting for the students.”