48 Reg 9 residents benefit from Job Readiness training programme

Some 48 residents of Region Nine (Upper Takutu-Upper Essequibo) have received certification following their completion of the Employment Attack 102 Job Readiness Summer Camp.
Organised by the not-for-profit entity Sustained Youth Development and Research Inc (SSYDR) in collaboration with ExxonMobil Guyana, this month-long programme has been crafted to equip job-seekers with the requisite skills needed to better position themselves within the job market.
Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton attended the graduation ceremony, held at St Ignatius Secondary School on Friday last, alongside CRMA Officer Yolanda Grant, ExxonMobil Guyana Production Manager Mike Ryan, and Region Nine Regional Chairman Bryan Allicock, among other regional officials.

The training programme included a seven-module work-ready curriculum in which students learnt about personal development, interpersonal communication, work habits and conduct, leadership and teamwork, safety and health, rights and duties, and financial fitness.
It also renders use of the Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency’s (CRMA) services to assist students in seeking employment, including four months of mentoring.
Notably, the CRMA is mandated to match suitably qualified persons with existing vacancies; canvass for job vacancies for possible placement for job seekers; maintain an accurate record of notified vacancies; and provide advice, career guidance, and counselling to those seeking employment.
An online National Job Bank launched by the CRMA last March has allowed hundreds of persons to secure employment. Over 10,000 persons have graduated from the Labour Ministry’s skills-training programmes countrywide, while some 1,051 have been trained under the SSYDR job-readiness initiative.
In 2019, ExxonMobil Guyana invested some $12 million to support the first Employment Attack 102- Job Readiness Camp, with its main goal being to reduce youth vulnerability to poverty, crime and violence in certain communities.
Minister Hamilton also visited the Lethem Training Centre of the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) to oversee its current activities for this year.
He was joined by work study students assigned to the Ministry, who gained firsthand knowledge of how Ministry personnel worked in the field.