TVET gets US$2M shot in the arm

GUYANA’S TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING (TVET)
WAS GIVEN A SHOT IN THE ARM late last week when two contracts valued at some
US$2M were inked to boost two Practical Instruction Centres (PICs) in Demerara/Mahaica
(Region Four) and Mahaica/Berbice (Region Five).
The Caribbean Development bank (CDB) is underwriting the cost of the improvement plan for
the two PICs under the country’s Skills Development and Employability Project (GSDEP), a
statement from the Ministry of Education advised.
“The GSDEP is aimed at improving Guyana’s capacity to deliver TVET programmes equitability
across the education sector,” the MoE press statement said.
The release explained the Beterverwagting PIC in Region Four, and its counterpart at Hopetown
in Region Five, will be equipped with improved practical instruction departments to offer
Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) Certificate Level One training in Commercial Food
Preparation, Masonry, Plumbing, Electrical Installation, Graphic Design and Home Economics/
House Keeping.
Chief Education Officer (CEO) Dr Marcel Hutson said at the signing ceremony that TVET is
“part of our strategic plan…because we see how important this (form of) education is in terms of
developing our nation and how important it is to offering an alternative pathway to our students
in the school system.”
Hutson said the MoE can ill-afford delays to the TVET initiative, tying the scheme to the
development of the country’s students.
Meanwhile Deputy Chief Education Officer (Technical) Mr. Patrick Onwuzirike said Friday’s
signing at the Ministry’s Brickdam, Georgetown office moves the Ministry closer to fulfilling
GSDEP’s objectives.

Onwuzirike appealed to contractors to complete the improvements works to the two PICs within
the contractual agreement. The DCEO expects students to occupy the two institutions by June
2022.
Meanwhile MoE’s Alfred King, Permanent Secretary (PS) reiterated Onwuzirike’s counsel on
timely completion of the two key schools offering local students vital technical learning.
“We have been experiencing very often, contractors who would win these contracts fairly but
then trying to get the implementation going is always a problem,” King complained.
And GSDEP Project Coordinator, Mr. Theron Siebs said each contractor sticks to the contracts
specifications, a prerequisite to fulfilling the Caribbean Association of National Training
Authorities (CANTA) the requirement.
CANTA is an arm of the regional body, CARICOM, which is responsible for coordinating
TVET in states which are members of the 48-year-old 15 states and dependency integration
institution.
Expansion and rehabilitation of Beterverwagting (BV) PIC is set at G$186.5M to be executed by
KALLCO Guyana Inc., while that of Hopetown PIC is estimated at some G$230M by M&P
Investment Guyana Inc. with MTSUL Construcoes LTDA and Construtora Cobra Eireli.
VIKAB Engineering, in association with VIKAB (Guyana) Limited and Jain Consultants,
will oversee the two contracting firms executing the TVET plan.