Over 9,000 persons certified through BIT to date – Min. Hamilton

The Board of Industrial Training (BIT) has certified over 9000 persons countrywide to date and continues to make opportunities available for Guyanese to be fully equipped with the requisite skills to meet the high demand of the country’s labour market.

This was disclosed by Minister of Labour, Joseph Hamilton during a BIT graduation ceremony in Santa Rosa, Region One on Monday.

“That is the reason why the Board of Industrial Training exists, to ensure that persons can do a programme without all of the fancy requirements of life,” Minister Hamilton stated.

BIT offers more than 80 technical and vocational training courses free of cost including block making, heavy-duty equipment operation, electrical installation, upholstery, craft making, solar installation and repairs, motor vehicle servicing and repairs, commercial food preparation, welding and fabrication, auto electrical and AC repair, and heavy-duty mechanics.

Over 600 residents of Regions One and Two have graduated recently, while another 254 graduated from various courses last month.

Approximately, 169 residents along the east coast corridor graduated through BIT.

In 2022, some $448.5 million was allocated for BIT to facilitate training which benefitted some 4,000 persons. In that year, 2,000 citizens were trained and certified, while in 2021, 3,086 persons were trained.

Persons were empowered due to the programmes and are now earning an income or are entrepreneurs.

To bridge the gap between the coast and the hinterland, the reach of the training programmes was expanded to those regions and riverine communities for the residents to be upskilled.

 “Our commitment to you is that the activities and the opportunities being offered to people on the coast and in Region Four, you will also have those same benefits. If you are talking about building more houses and you’re talking about necessary facilities, you have to have people in the village who can run wire and who can put on switches. And that is why the programmes are important and useful,” Minister Hamilton stressed.

BIT also collaborates with village councils, organisations, and other stakeholders to provide training programmes.

This is to ensure that every Guyanese, regardless of location, has equitable access to opportunities to improve their livelihoods and the country at large. The participants are given all the tools required to complete the programmes successfully, and no prior certification or qualifications are needed.