Over 2,000 women get ‘hard skills’ training

An estimated 2,000 women were trained under the Board of Industrial Training (BIT) last year, Labour Minister Joseph Hamilton has said, noting that the number represents 46% of those who were trained.

According to the Labour Minister, the government continues its efforts to ensure women are trained in the “hard skills” and notably, there is now more inclusion in programmes such as mechanics and heavy-duty equipment operation.

“We have been ensuring that women participate in what we call ‘hard skills’ and we have been successful in some regards.

“In 2022 46 per cent of the people we trained were women in technical areas. To explain what we mean, we moved from zero to 18 females graduating in heavy duty machinery [in Linden alone],” Hamilton stated.

At Mahdia, Region Eight, last year for the second batch of persons involved in heavy duty training, again, there was a high turnout.

This was following the rollout of programmes in regions beyond the coast. Since 2019, the expansion has seen massive uptake in Regions Eight, Nine and Ten.

This year, the Ministry hopes to train over 5,000 persons to meet the demand for skilled workers in the construction, mining and oil and gas sectors.

To provide the training, new facilities will be erected in regions across the country. Contracts were signed on Tuesday for two buildings to be constructed in New Amsterdam and Corriverton, Region Six.

Minister Hamilton also added that now, every region has Labour Offices where interested persons can find out more about these training programmes.