Skilled workers, without certificates proving their competency, could soon get the necessary documents needed to access more job opportunities through efforts from local labour and technical/ vocational authorities.
Many skilled workers in Guyana operate without the necessary certification proving that they are indeed proficient in their respective fields.
Now, however, the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (C-TVET) in Guyana and the Ministry of Labour are teaming up to find ways of systematically assessing those workers’ skills and providing regionally recognised certification that would boost their chances at becoming gainfully employed in Guyana’s expanding economy.
This will be done through a programme known as the Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR).
At the launch of the programme and the opening of a workshop on Monday, TVET Officer David Glasgow explained that PLAR is a mechanism that provides skilled workers with instant certification as opposed to them being forced to start new training in their field for the sake of certification.
“It is mainly a mechanism to provide you instant certification so you don’t have to go through the protocol of registering for training.
“If you are skilled in an area but you want to matriculate or seek promotion and they are asking for a programme, then you can become certified,” Glasgow said.
This is viewed as particularly necessary to allow local skilled workers to meet the labour demands in Guyana’s expanding economy.
Though skilled workers may already be gainfully employed, numerous stakeholders on Monday underscored that certification is a prerequisite for many of the emerging opportunities in Guyana’s expanding economy.
Director for the Council for Technical Vocational Education and Training, Mr Patrick Chinedu Onwuzirike highlighted that a recent study showed that there are thousands of Guyanese without a certification.
Yet, studies show that many Guyanese- even those who have not completed formal education- acquired key skills throughout their life. These skills range from carpentry to welding.
With this thrust for certifying those workers, significant benefits are expected.
“This will certainly revolutionise technical education and more so the national economy, not only by creating opportunities for those who have never been certified in some ways but to also recognize talent and skills,” C-TVET Chairman Floyd Scott said on Monday.
In the short term, stakeholders will be meeting to agree on the parameters for assessing and certifying people’s competencies.
