‘More students should work and study’ – President Ali

President Dr. Irfaan Ali believes that more of Guyana’s university students can work while they undergo their studies, a move he hopes will help to counter labour shortages locally.

According to Dr. Ali, there are abundant job opportunities here. And he said foreign students have been able to balance their studies while working locally, particularly in the service industry.

“Here in Guyana, we somehow believe that this is demeaning… There is a lot of value, not just learning value in doing so,” Dr. Ali said as he addressed Tuesday’s Local Content Summit at the Pegasus Suites and Corporate Centre in Kingston.

So, he encouraged more of Guyana’s tertiary students to embrace employment ventures as they study.

This, he said, would help to engender an improved work ethic as the government moves towards free tertiary education. This free education is being pursued in a phased manner with the government wiping out student debt this year before making education free by next year.

The Head of State also posited that more working students will help to ease labour shortages locally.

“We have labour shortages all over.

“We don’t see enough of our students in the labour market and that is one of the things we are addressing. It is a low hanging fruit we are addressing,” President Ali said.

Guyana has been grappling with labour shortages in some areas and the government and other stakeholders have been exploring possible solutions, including migrant labour. On Tuesday, President Ali also noted that the government hopes to get more women into the workforce.