-review findings handed over to Labour Minister

SENIOR Specialist at the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Dr. Hassan Ndahi, on Friday, presented the findings of his review of the National Apprenticeship Programme to Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton.
The review commenced on Tuesday.

In his findings, some of which was shared at a press conference, Ndahi stated that stakeholders have given good suggestions and are willing to engage the Ministry of Labour (MOL) and the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) to see that the review becomes a reality when the programme is redesigned.
He related that the apprenticeship programme was established some 100 years ago and a high school certificate was the only requirement to join. In this regard, he said that, at this current stage, persons with higher levels of education should be involved.

“There has to be a transition. When they are in school, you can transition into an apprenticeship and strengthen your skills and then move across the ladder of education,” Ndahi said.
He noted that since the oil and gas sector is thriving, an appropriate apprenticeship programme would be beneficial.
“You don’t go to school to study oil and gas, you might study engineering but if you go there, they will have to teach you what to do and the best place you can strengthen those capacities is to have an apprenticeship programme with the oil and gas industry and to also articulate that apprenticeship programme to the schools,” he related.

Ndahi also said these recommendations will also benefit the Government of Guyana as it would help young people gain employment which is always a challenge.
He was delighted to state that employers are ready to pay salaries to apprentices and in the legal framework, the existing Act will have some changes made after reviews are done to accommodate his recommendations.
Meanwhile, Richard Maughn, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of BIT said that it was realised that apprenticeship programmes have produced a 100 per cent employment rate after training.

“Every single apprentice that is trained is offered employment and sometimes those apprentices may choose not to remain with the company that trained them. However, when it comes to the reduction of unemployment for young persons and other individuals after training, the apprenticeship programme is the way to go,” Maughn said.
He noted that such a programme reduces the mismatch between what happens in education and what happens in training.

“We have been training retirees over the last few years and when we look at what is happening, we have to make sure that there is an alignment between what BIT does and what all the other technical institutions do. We have been visiting with oil and gas providers and other persons who are looking to have apprentices and they have been saying to us they need apprentices with degrees and diplomas,” Maughn related.

Minister Hamilton, in his comments, said that in everything that is being done, the role women will play in the development and the training and apprenticeship programmes will need to be determined.
He explained that the majority of Guyana’s population, according to its last census, is women who hold a 51 per cent share in the population percentage.

He noted that while speaking about development, there cannot be an exclusion of women in certain job areas. He told the media that given the necessary training, women could do any job a man can do.
Additionally, Minister Hamilton said that decisions must be made regarding University of Guyana students as the institution does not make allowances for apprenticeship, which according to him must be changed.
He explained that many university graduates are often turned down for a job because they have no experience. A way to change this, he said, is to put them in an apprenticeship programme in their final year.