–Minister Hamilton announces two-year apprenticeship programme targetting 20 women

THE Board of Industrial Training (BIT), which falls under the Ministry of Labour, has recorded a massive increase in the number of women who would have applied for non-traditional areas of training in 2024.

It was stated as well that females accounted for some 60 per cent of the persons trained over the last four years.
A total of 1,490 beneficiaries were engaged in more than 100 projects across 29 occupational areas of training in every region, except Region Eight (Potaro-Siparuni). Of the lot, 794 were males and 696 were females.
The Government of Guyana expended a total of $169,326,900 to roll out those training programmes.

In the non-traditional areas, 211 females were engaged in 13 areas of training for 2024. Some 18 females were trained in A/C and Refrigeration Servicing and Repairs, Auto Electrician saw one female participating, Electrical Installation 35, Furniture Making eight, General Building Construction 12, Heavy Duty Equipment Operation (HDEO) 73, Introduction to Photovoltaic (PV) Installation and Repairs seven and Welding and Fabrication 20.

Minister of Labour Joseph Hamilton said that in 2020, 12,765 persons from across the country were trained and this figure comprised 5,077 males and 7,680 females.

He announced that on January 13, 2025, a two-year World Bank-funded programme will commence, and will be supervised by the Guyana Energy Agency (GEA) and executed by the BIT.

The programme will train 20 women, two from each of the country’s ten administrative regions, in an apprenticeship programme in electrical installation and basic PV technology.

Minister Hamilton said that this continues from a programme that was executed by the BIT, with funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), for 75 females in solar photovoltaic technology, from Regions Seven (Cuyuni-Mazaruni) and Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo).

Additionally, Minister Hamilton said: “We are also collaborating with the USAID Y-RIE programme.”

According to the minister, the intention is to train 90 youths that are in at-risk situations. He highlighted that 30 will be from the Albouystown/Charlestown area, 30 from Sophia, and another 30 from New Amsterdam. The programme will be done under Project IGNITE.

A Canadian company, G-Mining, collaborated with the BIT for the conduct of technical skills training to potential employees of the company, in areas such as welding, mechanics, HDEO, instrumentation and pipe fitting.

He added, “At our facility in Bartica, we will train all the staff that will work at this mining site. I think 1,500 in the first instance. That is for the preparation and development of the mine. And then after the development of the mine, I think 2027 or 2026, we will continue to train all the people who will work in this mine, relatively new equipment operators, welders and fabricators, electricians, and so forth.”

The primary focus of this programme is on persons from the Region Seven.

In July 2024, the ministry collaborated with Coursera to offer the BIT life skills training programmes online. The minister said thus far, 609 learners have been invited to the platform. He said 253 have joined the platform with 195 enrolling in various courses.

Training for staff and board members are being formulated as well.