Over 12,000 benefit from Govt-led skills training in 4 years – Hamilton

Training being provided by the Board of Industrial Training has been a success. This is according to Labour Minister, Joseph Hamilton.
Some 12,472 persons countrywide have been trained in different fields since August 2020, as a result of direct investments being made by the government.
Hamilton, who visited several locations where training programmes are ongoing in Region Six (East Berbice-Corentyne) on Monday, told this publication that since 2020, the government has invested $1.2 billion in various training programmes being run by the Board of Industrial Training (BIT).
During the visit he was able to witness firsthand several of the training programmes being rolled out in the county.
Training is currently ongoing in electrical installation, cosmetology, commercial cooking and information technology at various villages.

“So far of the 12,400 of the persons that we have trained, 61 percent are females across this country. In a lot of areas where women are now trained and working in some skilled areas, they would not have had the opportunity five years ago to participate in these type of training programmes and a lot of women are gravitating towards these programmes; electrical installation, welding and fabrication,” Hamilton told this publication.
The Board of Industrial Training is responsible for promoting and facilitating technical and vocational education and training; its primary goal is to enhance the skills of the workforce to meet the demands of various industries.
Hamilton said that he is pleased with the work of BIT over the past four years.
He pointed out that a fiber optic technician training programme was for the first time conducted in 2022, with a batch of fifteen persons.
“By the time we were finished training those fifteen persons they were already working in the telecommunications field. If we didn’t foresee and bring that new programme on stream, where would have the telecommunication companies would have found the skill set from?”
Following the first batch, a second batch consisting of twenty persons were trained in 2023.
This year a further twenty persons were trained by BIT for Guyana Power and Light (GPL).
“Because the programme was so successful, GPL sought us out and asked us to train their staff because we have a fiber optic cable across the Demerara River and any time we have a disruption, we have to bring people in and pay a lot of money for them to repair it.”
Hamilton explained that with the input of BIT, GPL has almost twenty technicians in its employ who are empowered with the skills to carry out fiber optic installation and repairs. According to Hamilton, many who are now working in the oil and gas sector were first exposed to technical knowledge and training through BIT.
In fact, he said many companies are depending on his Ministry for skilled personnel to employ.
“Whether welding and fabrication, people for the hospitality sector – we do commercial food preparation as a programme, they seek us out and we make our list of persons who have graduated available to companies so that they can interface with them. As a result, thousands of people are now working in skill set,” he explained.
Currently, discussions are ongoing with the World Bank for a two-year programme that will train women countrywide.
“So it is not just national organisations and sister ministries that have sought BIT out to execute programmes, international organisations also have. Right now, as I speak with you, we are engaging a technical company out of Dubai and tomorrow (Tuesday) the CEO and his team have a meeting with the UNDP discussing training,” he added. (G4)