TECHNICAL education in the past was considered not that important in many societies and, as such, did not form an integral part of their education systems.

In fact, in some societies, people who pursued careers in the technical field were regarded as being not so bright and those who pursued studies in the academic field were regarded as being the bright and superior ones.

The industrial age, however, exposed the folly in such an approach to education as the demand for technical skills rose sharply but they were found to be in short supply. Consequently, technical education was given greater attention and became formalised and integrated into  national education systems.

The aim of technical education is to provide instruction and training in skills that have a practical use. Engineers, builders and mechanics are the most useful sections of an industrial society.

Ours is the age of industry. In our part of the world where industrialisation is just beginning, there is a great need for technical workers. Even agriculture, which has been our major occupation, will not prosper if modern ways of cultivation are not employed. It is possible only if our farmers are trained to use agricultural machines. Thus, they will be able to do more work in less time and give their ‘bent backs’ a well-deserved rest.
Technical experts are necessary for quick agricultural progress. Eventually we shall have to mechanise our farming on a large scale. We shall need industries producing machines, tractors, engines and so on. We shall need technical experts to run these types of industries.
Even developed countries are now struggling to meet the demand for technical skills.
Former United States Labour Secretary, Robert Reich defines global competitiveness as the nation’s ability to add value to goods and services in an increasingly integrated world economy, noting that the ability to compete will determine the living standards of our people. Already we are seeing a widening gap between our richest and poorest citizens.
The solution, Reich says, is to equip more people with skills through less-than-four-year college programmes. Many experts believe that our current education process fails, at least partially, because it forces students of all interests and abilities into college preparatory programmes contributing to critical shortages of skilled workers.

The shortage of qualified skilled workers has reached acute proportions in nearly every sector of American industry. Asian, South American and European countries place a much higher cultural and governmental value on the achievement of trade skills. In contrast, the skilled labour pool has become dangerously shallow in the U.S.

In Guyana, the Government has recognized the importance, role and demand for technical skills  and, as such, is moving swiftly towards establishing more technical institutes in the rural communities where many youths reside, but because they do not have training in a skill find it difficult to find a good job. These technical institutes, some of which have already been built, will certainly help to solve this problem.
However, it is imperative that the issues of staffing and equipment are addressed currently so that these invaluable institutions could begin operating immediately on completion of  construction of the buildings.