“Learning new skills is essential to advancing your career” – Labour Minister

Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton has called on Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) youths to learn new skills to advance their career.
He made the call during a visit to the region last week, where he urged youngsters to participate in free training courses offered by the Labour Ministry through the Board of Industrial Training (BIT). The Minister noted that all training programmes offered through the BIT are available to young people along with anyone else who are interested.
During an interaction with trainees from a cosmetology class that commenced two weeks ago, Hamilton said “when thinking of things to do daily, most times, you will not put learning a new skill on your to-do list… But you could be missing out on something great, both personally and professionally.”
He also noted that learning something new “helps you grow as an individual, improves your knowledge base and gives you access to new and different opportunities, and can also potentially earn more money”, adding that gaining a skill can help persons get promotions and make them more marketable in the field of work, since it is important for persons to be accredited and certified so that they can gain a job with the skills they acquire.
“It diversifies your job options, helps you develop new techniques to keep up with the fast-changing world, helps you grow as an individual, and improves your knowledge. You can potentially earn and save more money.”
The BIT programme facilitates training opportunities in numerous courses including sewing, make-up artistry, fibreoptic technician, welding, electrician, installation of solar panels, and many more interesting courses that are beneficial.
Currently, ten persons are being trained in a four-month cosmetology course at Charity and the Government is focusing to train persons living in the hinterland areas, especially Pomeroon.
Meanwhile, the cosmetology trainer, Keziah De Silva said that the training will begin today, July 6, and the practical classes will be held four to five days per week from 09:00h to 14:00h over the next four months.
“I cannot wait to actually start the course… For me it is exciting and I enrolled in such a course because of my passion and dream to open a salon and soon accept real clients. When I was small, I was always excited to play with nail polish and paint mom’s toes… It’s always my thing,” Romesa, one of the participants said.
Another participant, Jem Cannay, said that besides having a passion for hair, make-up, nail designs, there are many other reasons to pursue a career in cosmetology. She said that assisting other people to look and feel good will be fun and fulfilling. The trainee added that she enrolled in the course because she will learn new skills and her interest and career opportunity will be awaiting her in the future.