The of Social Protection through its Labour Department continued to fulfill its mandate in Human Development in so far as assisting citizens to be gainfully employed is concerned. That was done through the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) and the Central Recruitment and Manpower Agency.
This is according to Minister with responsibility for Labour, Mr. Keith Scott in his year in report. Under the Industrial Training Act, Chapter 39:04 the Board of Industrial Training worked in close collaboration with other agencies such as the Ministry of Education, Public Corporations and Private Enterprises to provide training to many persons especially youths so that they can be properly and gainfully positioned in society.
The realization of that goal was made possible through a number of Apprenticeship programmes which equipped participants with the necessary skills to contribute to their own development and that of the economy.
During the year more than 2000 persons were graduated from over a dozen programmes and apprenticeship schemes, which equipped them with skills not only in traditional craftsmanship but in Information Technology and other disciplines.
In fact, the BIT has forged deeper relationship with the Guysuco Training Center, The Forestry Department Training Centre, the Guyana Women’s Leadership Institute and The First Lady Ms. Sandra Granger’s Youth Development Initiative Programme in an effort to ensure that equal opportunities are extended to every citizen. Moreover, the Board continued to sponsor training for the Differently abled.
Further, Minister Scott said, “we have already begun to examine areas of training that are suited to the emerging Oil and Gas Industry.”