–in educational opportunities, skills development, President Ali says

PRESIDENT Dr. Irfaan Ali on Friday said that the Government of Guyana will continue to make crucial investments to ensure that the competitiveness of the country’s population grows significantly.

The Head of State affirmed the government’s positon during his address at the second Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) graduation ceremony, which was held at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre.

Dr. Ali said that the only way to be “ahead of the curve”, as it relates to the rapid growth taking place in various sectors, is to prepare for the next wave of competition, which will come by getting qualified.

“Seek higher level of education; seek training, seek your own development, seek your own upliftment, and that is what is going to keep you in a competitive environment,” he said.
President Ali said what is satisfying is that they have a government that is investing in ensuring that they remain competitive, not only for today but also long into the future, and a government that is incentivising making the population competitive.

For the more than 1,000 persons who successfully completed the various programmes this year, the government invested more than $1.5 billion.
Addressing some of the overall investments being made, he said that for anyone with the qualification to enter the nursing field, the government accepts and pays for them completely; same for persons desirous of becoming trained teachers.

“We support more than 1,000 welders, more than 3,000 nurses, a tourism and hospitality institute that would accommodate more than 6,000 new entrants,” he said while outlining the plethora of investments that are being made.

On the issue of competition, he said that in the 1970s, less than 20 per cent of the global population had post-secondary education; this has changed dramatically over the years, with up to 2019, over 55 per cent of the global population having some form of post-secondary education.

“What this tells us is that the world, and environment in which we are asked to operate in, is only getting more competitive; it is only getting more competitive, and as we grow in Guyana as the salary for teachers and nurses and doctors grow, the competition for those jobs is also going to grow,” he said.

This, Dr. Ali said, will happen, and there should be no doubt about it. However, when this occurs, it is going to become more competitive, and will happen at a rapid pace.

President Ali added, “Just as nurses and teachers went for more competitive salaries in the Caribbean and elsewhere, [they] are going to come to seek those competitive salaries here too.”
Further, he told the graduands that with their new qualifications, opportunities are abound in various sectors that are rapidly growing, and, as such, they are even more equipped to take up these opportunities.