GUYANA’S technical and vocational education and training (TVET) system is being repositioned to place greater emphasis on practical competencies, with students increasingly being given opportunities to make, create, package, and produce, Education Minister Sonia Parag has said.
Parag made this known while delivering the feature address at the 2026 CXC results release ceremony on Tuesday, when she noted that TVET remains a central commitment of the government and part of its five-year plan.
She indicated that practical skills should not be taught largely from textbooks, but also through hands-on experiences that allow students to apply what they learn.
“I ask that we shift our focus much more deliberately towards practical competencies where our students are actually making, creating, building, and producing,” Parag said.
The minister pointed to several products being developed and professionally packaged by students, including hair oil, achar, and banana ketchup, which she said demonstrated the potential of a TVET system geared towards production.
Parag said she had been particularly impressed by what students were producing, describing their work as “mind-blowing”.
It was against this backdrop that she also highlighted the practical role students played during Guyana’s hosting of the 52nd meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development in Education last week.
Rather than relying solely on private caterers for the regional meeting, the Ministry of Education arranged for students from the Home Economics departments of several schools and TVET programmes to prepare meals for education ministers from across the Caribbean and their delegations.
Parag said the students’ performance attracted significant praise from the visiting officials.
“I can tell you that every single minister who praised the conference ended that praise with a praise about the food and the hospitality from these students,” she said.
According to Parag, such experiences form part of the TVET system that the government is seeking to build, one which provides young people with the practical abilities and confidence to participate meaningfully in Guyana’s changing economy.
It was then that she noted that the focus must be on equipping students not only with academic qualifications, but also with practical skills that can translate into real products, services and economic activity.
“That is the TVET system we are building,” Parag said, adding that it should give young people the “competence, confidence, and opportunity” to participate meaningfully in Guyana’s rapidly changing economy.
