A section of the gathering at the graduation on Wednesday
One hundred and eight (108) differently-abled persons on Wednesday graduated with various skills from the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) which was in collaboration with the Guyana Council of Organisations for Persons with Disabilities (GCOPD) at the David Rose Special School.
The graduates, some of whom have visual and hearing impairments, graduated from the programme with training in leather craft, rope mat making, computer skills, basic cosmetology, basic sewing and basic woodworking training.
Differently-abled persons as young as 13 years old participated in the programme.
Chairman of the GCOPD, Cecil Morris urged the graduates to utilise the skills obtained for economic purposes.
“You now have the tools to take you forward in life and because you have that tool, you need to use it and use it in a mighty way. Some of us might go through the training and when we are done we still throw back like before, the onus is upon you not to throw back but to step forward and make yourself be counted,” Morris encouraged.
The Chairman further called for Government to continue to assist the differently-abled community and thanked BIT for its contribution.
BIT Chairman, Clinton Williams said that similar programmes are being hosted in all regions of Guyana for differently-abled persons.
Since the commencement of the programme in 2014, some 400 persons have graduated.
Public Affairs Minister, Dawn Hastings-Williams assured that the differently-abled community will continue to have Government support.
