A batch of 40 skilled young people from Region Three have graduated from the Board of Industrial Training (BIT), specialising in various disciplines.
This includes eighteen people in electrical engineering, thirteen in welding and fabricating and nine trained in auto mechanics.
The graduation ceremony was held on the island of Wakenaam. It was attended by parents, community leaders and representatives from BIT on Sunday.
In addition to the technical training, the graduates also received safety gear, a monthly stipend and certification aligned with national standards.
Among the attendees was the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Board of Industrial Training (BIT), Richard Maughn.
In his address, he charged the graduates to embrace the opportunity to learn, grow and prepare for meaningful work.
“In a rapidly changing world, it is not what you know but what you can do that makes the difference. Yes, we are living in a knowledge-based economy, but we are also living in a world that requires people to not only know, but able to do and that is why skills matter. Skilled individuals drive innovation, strengthen economy, and uplift community,” Maughn underscored.
He further emphasised that the majority of trained persons are being taken up into the thriving oil and gas sector; however, there is a need for persons to work in the domestic sector to provide services within the electrical, welding and construction industries.
With Guyana on the path to fast-paced development in all sectors, there is an increase in the demand for skilled personnel to fill available job positions.
To alleviate this challenge, the Ministry of Labour, in Collaboration with the Board of Industrial Training, has committed to training persons to fill the existing gaps in the workforce.
Between 2020 and 2025, the government, through the Ministry of Labour and BIT, invested $24.1 million in Region Three, reaching 243 beneficiaries.
To date, over 13,000 persons have been trained across the country, with women accounting for 60 per cent of the total number. (Department of Public Information)
