40 persons graduate from National Defence Institute Programme

Forty students graduated from the five-day National Defence Institute (NDI) programme, which gave the participants training to upgrade them to participate more effectively in Guyana’s national defence.
The training was conducted by the William J. Perry Centre for Hemispheric Defence Studies in conjunction with the National Defence Institute (Guyana).
Participants came from the Guyana Defence Force (GDF); the Guyana Police Force (GPF); the Guyana Fire Service (GFS); the Guyana Prison Service (GPS); the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA); the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA); and the Office of the President. The GDF had the largest representation, with 20 students.
The programme, which was held from February 3 to 7, focused on a wide range of topics including civil military relations, maritime security, crisis management, emerging technology and critical infrastructure, human rights, and, procurement, among other topics.
Speaking during the graduation ceremony was Director of the NDI, Dr Randolph Persaud, who expressed the benefits of these exercises for students that were granted in the programme.

He explained that the students were given a case study with a simulated amount of $600 million, which they had to spend over a three-year period for procurement. They were required to make decisions based on strategic objectives, international geopolitical calculations, domestic requirements, border issues, and Guyana’s national security strategy.
According to him, the students performed very well on projects like these.
“It was very thoroughly done and, most importantly, it was data-driven. It was based upon the available mock data in this instance, but these are basically simulations. We also covered crisis decision-making during the week. We covered human rights. We did things like human security, small arms and light weapons for liberation. We did strategic thought. We did command and control. We did capabilities, defence planning, and a range of other topics.”
He added that the comprehensiveness of the programme was remarkable, in which most lectures were followed by engaging real life scenarios.
“It was quite comprehensive. There were lectures followed by tabletop exercises based upon scenarios that students were given. I’m happy to report that the students did extremely well.”
In fact, he highlighted that on all days of the programme the attendance rate was very high.
“The attendance rate was high, and the quality of questions that came from them impressed the visiting faculty and, of course, the leadership of the National Defence Institute. So, all in all, this being the first batch of students through the Perry Centre NDI programme, I think it’s been an overwhelming success.”
According to him, students attained an array of benefits from this certification programme.
The course director was Dr David Spencer. The other Perry Centre faculty include Professors Celina Realuyo, Col (Ret′d) Glyne Grannum (Barbados), and Dr Román D. Ortiz.