-Minister Singh identifies deficit in big data, data science, AI, cybersecurity

In an effort to close the skills gap, the National Assembly has approved the allocation of $5,970,356,000 for scholarships and training for the Public Service Ministry.

Subject Minister Dr. Ashni Singh told the House on Friday that Guyana is experiencing unprecedented development and that there is a greater need for trained workers.

The minister stated this in response to a query from Opposition Parliamentarian Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, regarding the 7,752 recipients of Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) scholarships in fields related to the acquisition of skills essential for the development of the country.

Sarabo-Halley praised this as “quite commendable,” but she also questioned Minister Singh on the existence of a development plan outlining the areas in which individuals should receive training. Dr Singh replied, “We do have an ongoing engagement with both sides of the labour market. That is to say, employers and potential employers including of course the private sector. But the government is also, of course, itself an employer. And on the supply side, employees and potential employees including recent graduates of schools and tertiary education systems.”

He clarified that in evaluating the state of affairs, the government attempts to look forward and predict the future paths that the national economy and global economy will take.

He noted that although these fields are “very current and contemporary topics,” there is a skills deficit in technology-driven fields like big data, data science, artificial intelligence (AI), and cybersecurity.

“We anticipate a surge in demand and a surge in opportunity for those kinds of skills moving forward. And so, we do have a sufficiently rich set of information to form the basis for the identification and determination of a wide range of training programmes that we have been offering and that we endeavour to offer to potential applicants looking to upskill or expand their skills or certification,” remarked Dr Singh, in his advancing his point.

But according to MP Sarabo-Halley, the bulk of the labour force is undertrained and needs to be retrained and become skilled, so the issue is not necessarily training.

She reasoned that the problem arises from overtraining and the decision of when to give up on a certain type of training so as not to teach more individuals than the demand will support.

As such, she questioned whether government has a plan to help it understand this trajectory.

Dr Singh responded, “The question posed by the honourable member is a perfectly valid one. And we would needless to say, want to avoid the peril the honourable member has identified.

“In the same breath, I say it is a point we are not unmindful of. I hesitate to say there is a plan because if the honourable member were to ask me to produce a single document that documents across every single sector what the anticipated needs are…I would be the first to say that I am not myself aware that such a single document exits.” According to him, the government has a “reasonably good idea” of what the needs are across a number of sectors. (Feona Morrison)