Latest update April 2nd, 2025 8:00 AM
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76 graduate in IT from Felix Austin Training College
Seventy-six (76) persons including police trainees, scouts and civilians recently graduated in Information Technology (IT) when the Felix Austin Training College B Division, Adventure, Corentyne, held a ceremony at the school following a three- month course under the theme “Information Technology is no longer a skill, it’s a culture, join us” .
The event was held at the new multi-million dollar facility which was made possible through the ZARA foundation, a US-based firm which has in the past assisted the local police in its IT drive. This was made possible after a number of computers were presented to the college in June this year.
Participants pose with Deputy Commissioner Seelall Persaud, Assistant Commissioners Deryck Josiah and Clinton Conway, and other top brass of the police force, after receiving their certificates.
At the commissioning, ZARA representative Narine Singh had urged those in nearby villages to make full use of the lab, and urged Government to ensure that potential investors have access to high speed internet. This, he had stressed, was the only way Guyana would see serous financiers coming to the country.
Giving the feature address at the Graduation ceremony, Deputy Commissioner of Police with responsibility for Law Enforcement, Seelall Persaud, described the venture as a new wave of community involvement. This, he noted, is being done through skills development and is aimed at shepherding young people away from criminal activities.
“If the police force is to develop, every member must be trained in Information Technology, but not only members of the force, the public must be trained also. What we have started to do here is to train persons in Information Technology (IT) to a level where they can go and write the US IBM certificate examination. It therefore means that not only are we doing things that will help them along, but we are giving them a skill at a standard that is second to none in the world.”
“If we engage these youths and instill good values in them and we instill skills that they can use to come and earn conventionally, then we will be diverting them away from lives of crime and violence,” Persaud posited.
Force Training Officer Assistant Commissioner Clinton Conway, in his remarks, noted that the objective of the force is not only to do training for themselves, but to get the public involved in whatever training is provided at the centre.
Commander of ‘B’ Division and acting Commander of ‘A’ Division Assistant Commissioner Deryck Josiah pointed out that there is a need to continue to engage the public. He stated that he is in discussion with the Central Corentyne Chamber of Commerce with a proposal of assisting the centre by providing a generator, “so that when GPL gets mad and turns off the switch we can press a button and still have things going.”
Also giving remarks was president of the St Francis Community Developers (SFCD) and member of the management committee of the College, Alex Foster.
Training in the initial programme was in basic computing. Other courses are currently ongoing.
Persons as far as New Amsterdam, some twenty miles away, attended the courses. (Samuel Whyte)
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