IN KEEPING with the Administration’s vision of ensuring Guyanese are empowered with the skills and knowledge that will make them employable, 50 persons will benefit from free Online courses in heavy-duty machinery repairs and maintenance.

This is according to Minister of Public Telecommunications Catherine Hughes during a charge to participants who attended an event that was a collaboration between the Ministry of Public Telecommunications and Machinery Corporation of Guyana Limited (MACORP).
The courses will be facilitated by MACORP through its Caterpillar ‘Technicians for the Caribbean’ programme, while the ministry will provide support to access computer systems and the Internet.

The certified training programme was officially launched on Monday evening at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, where persons of all ages, including women, turned up in their numbers to officially register.

This year, MACORP signed Memorandums of Understanding with the Ministries of Public Telecommunications and Indigenous Peoples’ Affairs to offer training to Guyanese youths.
Thus far, 961 persons have been registered, and to date, 41 were certified and moved on to the practical aspect of the programme.

Minister Hughes noted that with the new and emerging oil-and-gas industry and growing mining industry, these skills that are being offered ‘free of cost’ will be in great demand.
She said that with the money expected from the oil sector, the government will be in a position to offer more scholarships to meet the growing needs of the labour market.
“We know that the oil-and-gas industry will not employ hundreds of us,” she said, “but the key to it is all the additional services that will be required. And already this government has a policy that we are not looking at oil alone; oil and oil reserves are a means to do so many other things… When you have additional monies coming into your economy, then you can give more scholarships. Our vision is to ensure that everybody has an opportunity, and that means that when it comes to the industries we want to build, we must have the technical persons.”

Noting that today’s youths are very versed when it comes to technology, she wasted no time in urging that they put that kind of expertise to good use. “You have no excuse; we are going to help you to learn,” Minister Hughes said.
Akeem Boston, who is employed with Big Boss Transportation Services, said he was elated to be able to access the programme.

GOOD OPPORTUNITY
“This is something a lot of youths don’t have access to,” he said. Being in the transportation business, young Boston said he is very committed to the programme, and that once he would have completed the course and increased his knowledge base, he plans to advance his career.
Shaundel McBeth, 17, is one of the few women who showed an interest in the programme. She said that after completing the programme, she plans to pursue a career in the said field at MACORP.

Asked what she thought of the programme, Shaundel said: “It’s a great opportunity for young people to get involved in training opportunities, and it’s a great way to empower youths. And they learn a new skill as well.”

The government has established over 170 Information and Communications Technology (ICT) hubs in communities across the country.

Those hubs, along with the Arthur Chung Conference Centre, will be used as centres for the training programme, in that facilitators will be at the various locations to help guide the process along.

Weneta Pooran, MACORP’s Learning Centre Administrator, noted that the company is committed to the development of Guyana through training and youth empowerment as part of its social responsibility. The programme, she affirmed, will transform the education and labour sectors.

Pooran explained that all the courses are virtual, and can be accessed from the comfort of the participant’s home or school, a library, an Internet hub, or from anywhere there is an Internet connection.

The curriculum consists of 18 courses: Four introductory ones; 10 Level-Ones and four Level-Twos. It can be completed within three to six months. Upon completion, participants will be certified and can then move on to the practical aspect of the programme at MACORP.

According to MACORP, participants can use their newly acquired knowledge and Certificate of Completion to gain employment in the auto, trucking or heavy equipment field, or get promoted if they are already employed.