41 graduate from Youth Empowerment Project

Sep 04, 2015 News

The National Training Project for Youth Empowerment (NTPYE) continues to bear fruit and Wednesday churned out 41 more persons who are now better equipped to hop into the world of work.
Despite the unexpected rain, there were only smiles on the faces of those gathered at the Eccles Youth Skills and Information Technology Training Centre for the graduation ceremony.
Particularly jolly were the graduates who completed their four-month courses in information technology, catering, welding, and fabrication. In fact, they were so jolly that they danced their way into the ceremony. They were also privy to classes in Literacy, Mathematics, English, Entrepreneurship, and Sexual and Reproductive Health. The project was executed under the Ministry of Social Protection’s Board of Industrial Training (BIT) and is open to persons 15 years and older.
This batch of students was also fortunate to be the first to complete the project in collaboration with the Guyana National Industrial Company (GNIC).
According to Richard Maughn, Technical Officer of BIT, the graduates are now ready to face the world of work. In fact, he said, at least 15 of the graduates have already secured jobs.
He indicated that BIT has trained thousands of Guyanese and will be accelerating its efforts in the coming months.
“Since we would have had the full support of the new government, we’ll be accelerating our training,” he said. “We will continue to do what we do and even do it better,” he added.
Next week the efforts will intensify and will be spread throughout Guyana, he said. He also urged persons who are youths to engage in the training.

Technical Officer of BIT Richard Maughn

Cause they’re happy! The graduates dance their way into the ceremony

“We want to inspire people and turn ordinary people into extraordinary individuals,” he stressed.
Furthermore, Maughn emphasised that the training focused on imparting knowledge on all aspects of an area of study.
“What we do is that they must understand the underpinning knowledge; why they do what they do. Apart from the practical there are class exercises in which each student is made fully competent not only on what they’re doing, but their employability skills and attitude towards work.”
“We’re trying to instil in our students that they must possess the right attitude for work; they have to be able to deal with conflict and the real world, so that when they enter the workplace they can perform,” he stressed.
Other speakers, such as Trainer Benjamin Corlette, also encouraged the graduates to follow the advice of older persons and he emphasised the importance of hard work. He further indicated that graduation is not an instant path to a “big pay”. Rather, he encouraged, the graduates to remain humble, patient and receptive of criticism.
Meanwhile, each graduate said that the available courses affected them positively in one way or another.
One such graduate, Quason Thatcher, explained that his training had allowed him to become well-rounded.
“I have truly benefited from this programme; now I know what I want to become – a computer specialist – and this is why I have enrolled at UG in Computer Science,” he shared.
He said too, that the trainers were excellent and imparted advice that they too themselves followed. He went on to congratulate his colleagues and urged them to make use of their newfound skills.
Other graduates similarly expressed that the training gave them the opportunity to use previously wasted time in a meaningful way.
One young man shared that he had simply been at home unemployed when his grandmother encouraged him to get up and enrol in the programme.
“I don’t know what I woulda do with myself in the long run,” the young man stressed.
Currently, 33 other persons are undergoing training in Region Seven. The BIT also has a single parents training programme.