By Dillon Goring
GUYANESE youths between the ages of 18 and 30 with an aptitude for learning digital skills, will have the opportunity to attend a training programme during the month of August.
The training programme will also target the enrolment of at least 50 per cent female candidates.
During an interview with the Guyana Chronicle , Director of the foundation Chitra Rajeshwari revealed that the proposed programme is applicable to Guyana , since the country’s focus is on development of technology skills required for the future , given the poverty levels , low educational attainment of the labour force and unemployment levels amongst youth and women, the proposed intervention will provide opportunities for skills training, employment, and entrepreneurship for low- income young people in Guyana.

The director said that additionally, partner companies will have an opportunity through the programme to access skills needed to transition and upgrade their business models and operations. The infusion of new skills will support innovation and particularly the adoption of technology to improve business performance.

The Digital Skills Training Programme in Guyana will run for a period of two-three years and will commence in August 2020. The Avasant Foundation has been implementing similar training programmes within the Caribbean since 2014 and has successfully delivered training to youth in Jamaica, Haiti and Trinidad & Tobago.

The programme will equip Guyanese youth with pertinent skills required for them to participate in the new digital economy. Guyana’s youth population will be trained with industry-relevant digital skills, giving them the opportunity to productively participate in the country’s economic acceleration. The intervention will deliver a trained workforce with applicable digital skills that will help local companies in Guyana to compete and expand. In addition, our entrepreneurship training will equip youth with the tools for unleashing their creativity and tech-savvy and help them conceptualise and launch their own businesses.

Avasant Foundation (AF), is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organisation in the State of California, established under the aegis Avasant Foundation (AF), is a 501(C)(3) not-for-profit organisation in the State of California, established under the aegis of Avasant LLC, the foundation works to improve lives and communities by empowering high potential, deserving youth in developing countries through education, employment & entrepreneurship initiatives in the new digital economy. We provide online and blended training leveraging the Avasant Learning Portal to provide innovative learning experiences and technologies to meaningfully engage candidates in the delivery of digital skills training which matches market demands. AF provides job matching job opportunities for graduates to be engaged in the new digital economy. Our propriety ignites entrepreneurial digital skills training empowers youth on using their creativity to start and run sustainable businesses. AF promotes gender equality by advancing gender equality and empowering women and girls with quality education and encouraging women centric startups and entrepreneurs in developing economies across the globe.

AF is aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development goals 4-Quality Education, 5-Gende Equality, 8- Decent work and Economic Growth and 10- Reduced Equality
The Avasant Foundation is head quartered in Los Angeles, California and Avasant Consulting LLC has a global presence with offices in the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Europe in the Caribbean in Trinidad & Tobago
The company Avasant Foundation has had a long-standing presence in the Caribbean region and has played a pivotal role in fostering socio-economic impact for the region through the provision of skills training programmes. The Foundation has enabled creation of 25,000 sustainable jobs for youth through digital youth employment training, focusing on the technological needs of the current job market and has been instrumental in implementing some key projects across developing economies, especially towards developing and enhancing skills of youth and young professionals.

The Avasant Foundation director noted that Guyana is at a landmark point in its development, where its economy is becoming increasingly attractive for investments as developments occur in new and emerging sectors. The inflow of wealth from oil will fundamentally change the level of sophistication demanded of the country’s private sector and will create new opportunities for employment and entrepreneurship.

Whilst there is a high potential for economic prosperity, 50 per cent of local firms reported access to a work force with relevant skills as a key barrier to growth and competitiveness. As an experienced provider of skills training to youth in the Caribbean region, Avasant Foundation has selected Guyana to create the digital talent pool to improve the skills of the workforce and empower youths to participate in the new digital economy.

It is critical that Guyana pursue strategies that can support rapid skills development of the current youth labour force while pursuing longer- term measures in mainstream education that will improve secondary and tertiary educational outcomes in the future. In this regard, the Avasant Foundation is prepared to partner with academic institutes to implement its model which focuses on business needs in the immediate to short term and will be a good complement to institutions such as Technical Vocational and Educational Training (TVET) institutes. Partnership with a local training partner such as TVET will facilitate the expansion of digital skills training nationally, as they have the infrastructure and reach which can be combined with Avasant Foundation’s private partnership and content developed in the proposed project, to achieve sustainability and scaling beyond the period of this training.