UG partners with Google, CSOD to train 150 youngsters in Guyana

The University of Guyana, on Saturday, kicked off a three-month training programme specially designed for youngsters.
Guyana’s national university partnered with the Caribbean School of Data (CSOD) to deliver in the areas of Digital/Data Literacy, Data Management, Data Visualisation, Data Integration and Big Data Analytics.
The orientation ceremony for the first two cohorts, which comprise eighty students, was held virtually on March 5 and the training programme which began on March 6 will run until May 29, 2021.
Classes are being held virtually, once per week. Lecturers, current students, and a few graduates of the Computer Science Department at the University of Guyana will deliver the programme completely in Guyana.
The agreement between the University of Guyana and SlashRoots Foundation (SRFDN), entered into in 2019, stipulates that UG will train about 150 students in the areas of Digital/Data Literacy, Data Management, Data Visualisation, Data Integration and Big Data Analytics.
The academic agreement was signed over a year ago, however, the commencement of the programme suffered some delays due to the advent of the COVID-19 pandemic which required the original face-to-face format to be converted to online.
The training initiative, which also involves several other regional territories, seeks to increase employability and economic opportunities for at-risk youth across the Caribbean through digital literacy and data skills training.
The project aims to train 150 young men and women, aged 18-29, in digital and data skills and help them to acquire new job competencies which are essential for the emerging digital economy and the workplace.
The project is funded by Google.org, Google’s philanthropy organisation, and is executed by a network of regional partners across the Caribbean through the CSOD’s unique blended learning model.
The University of Guyana has delivered several community-based digital skills programmes over the last eight months as part of its citizen success goal outlined in its Blueprint 2040.