Govt partners with Toronto University to make Guyanese more market-responsive – Pres Ali

– says human resource accreditation project in pipeline

The Guyana Government is partnering with Toronto’s Metropolitan University to develop a partnership aimed at upskilling Guyanese.
The project which is currently in the consultancy stage, will allow qualified and certified Guyanese to be accredited by the university, once the criteria for the project is finalized.

The Toronto Metropolitan University is ranked 601 in World University Rankings by Times Higher Education and has an overall score of 4.3 stars.
However, when materialized, the initiative will allow Guyanese citizens to earn a higher level of professional qualification, which will play a pivotal role in helping them access higher-paying jobs.
This was disclosed by President Dr. Irfaan Ali at the Private Sector Commission’s annual dinner on Monday evening.
The Guyanese Leader explained that some 2000 Guyanese will benefit from the transformational initiative, which he noted, will address the country’s labour shortage crisis.
Among the beneficiaries will be unemployed young people qualified in the fields of auditing, accounting, software development, and healthcare, among others.
“Part of the arrangement is that the young people must be linked to the jobs that we’re training them for. So, that’s 2000 persons and I think those jobs will pay a minimum of US$25,000 to US$30,000 annually…We don’t need 3 million people living here by 2030 but what we need is three million people passing through our economy every year utilizing the service that we’re creating…that is what drives demand and demand is what drives supply and supply is what drives expansion,” President Ali told those gathered.
In 2023, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation announced that Guyana’s labour industry is short of approximately 100,000 people.
This number includes thousands of people within the Guyanese Diaspora who are eager to contribute to the country’s development.
To address this issue, President Ali disclosed that the 2000 beneficiaries will also include qualified persons from the diaspora.
“The diaspora has to be part of wealth creation and wealth creation is investing in innovation, investing in research are development, investing in the market, investing in getting the right technical skills that’s going to help you,” The Head of State posited.

Labour shortage
The demand for labour locally has been growing exponentially as Guyana continues to undergo unprecedented transformation, and as a result, major industries such as the construction sector are affected.
Some of the large-scale projects that have been permitted to import labour are the India-funded Ogle, East Coast Demerara, to Eccles (East Bank Demerara) Bypass Road project and the new Demerara River Bridge project that is being undertaken by a Chinese contractor – China Railway and Construction Corporation (CRCC) Limited.
Guyana Times understands that CRCC contracted Bangladeshi workers who had built the FIFA World Cup stadiums in Qatar last year. Since India is financing the bypass road, there is a stipulation that a certain percentage of Indians are contracted to workers on the project.

Skilled labour
According, to the Ministry of Public Works, finding skilled labourers in areas such as plumbing, carpentry, masonry and drivers especially heavy-duty operators in Region Four continues to be a difficult task for many contractors.
However, the government is trying to expand the local supply of labour through aggressive training programmes through the GOAL scholarships and BIT training as well as with the massive training school that is being established at Port Mourant in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne).

GRA staff woes
These staffing woes are not only affecting the private sector. In 2023, Commissioner General of the state-run Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), Godfrey Statia, complained of having to grapple with staff shortages in key units relating to the petroleum sector within the agency, forcing them to outsource technical people.
Statia also highlighted that GRA staff are being lured away with lucrative offers from oil companies, in some cases, with salaries higher that his own.
He went onto note that government is losing staff from various state agencies to not only oil and gas companies but also other areas in the private sector as well. However, he said while this situation is concerning, at the same time government is also pulling staff from the private sector.