… Regional Chairman calls for greater support
Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Berbice) Chairman Renis Morian has hailed the first Phase of the Region’s recently-completed Work Readiness Programme, which
Renis Morian
was organised through the Christian Development Foundation, successful, and is advocating for continued support of the programme.
Forty young men and women from across the Region have already graduated under the first phase, organised by Morian. Following six months of training, the graduates, who were attached to various agencies across the Region, are now equipped with the necessary skills required for the world of work.
Already, several of them have been offered employment opportunities through the agencies to which they were attached.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony on December 17, Morian explained that the programme was fuelled by the high level of unemployment in the Region, coupled with the fact that employers were always seeking persons with work experience who were amply prepared for the world of work.
Alluding to the genesis of the initiative, the Regional Chairman noted that the Christian Development Foundation started the programme from a discourse of a vision, which eventually led to a plan and the securing of $3.2 million in funding, which was provided by the Office of the President.
Initially, he said the programme was expected to take 40 people through training; however, as some went off to higher levels of learning, others were enlisted. Participants were drawn from Linden, Ituni, Kwakwani and other areas.
“I’m ecstatic at what we would have achieved and I’m looking forward as again we would petition the Office of the President to see Phase Two of this very programme. Having more than 40 young persons participate, and seeing them go on to the University of Guyana, and the Guyana School of Agriculture, for me it’s a worthwhile programme and I’m looking forward for funding to do the other phase,” Morian said recently.
He noted that more than 50 participants would have benefited from the programme. He hailed the support of private entities such as Banks DIH, which he said was very gracious in providing stipends for participants and also made a promise to hire one of the two participants who were stationed at the company. He added that the Department of Education has also expressed interest in retaining the two participants who were on training there. Additionally, Regional Education Officer Marcia Paddy-Andrews is desirous of employing three of the participants, Morian said.
“So, this is catching on, based on the performance of the young people and we’re happy with their performance. They have grown from the very first month. To the end of the programme we’ve seen significant improvement in their approach to work, etc. While I’m looking for it to continue, the programme can very well evolve into something much larger. With the number of young persons and jobs coming on stream, you want young people to be ready, so who knows what lies ahead in terms of evolution for the programme,” the Regional Chairman said.
Additionally, he explained that if the programme continued with the guarantees that more young people would be hired, then it would all go well, more so since the Region is expected to benefit from a number of developmental activities.
He said, “We’re looking to build the road to Lethem. We’re looking to upgrade the airstrip, we’re looking to build a multi-purpose centre for young persons, and we’re doing a new building for the RDC. So, we would want some of these young people to be a part of this programme.”
Asked whether there was any guarantee that participants in the programme will be hired, the Regional Chairman assured that everyone would be attached to a work agency or institution of higher learning.
