Five hundred and four persons graduated from the Board of Industrial Training’s National Training Project for Youth Empowerment (NTPYE) and single parent programme at a ceremony at the National Cultural Centre.
This batch of graduates brings the yearly total to 1995 graduates. The training institution can boast a 97 graduating percent for the year.
President Donald Ramotar addressed the graduates and told them he could not be more proud of their efforts and accomplishments.
Graduates at the National Cultural Centre
The president gave a brief history of the NTPYE, stating that under former President Bharrat Jagdeo, the project was launched in 2005.
The aim of the project was to ensure that the youth of Guyana acquire skills that can give them better employment opportunities.
“Skilled workers are educated and empowered to diversify their opportunities; it has always been the goal of the government to produce youth that are educated and equipped with the abilities to transverse the challenges of life,” he said.
The president stated that six years after the launching of the project Guyana can boast an “economy [that] is growing at five percent” per annum. He urged the graduates to “not stay satisfied,” with their current education but to see it as “the basis for even further development”.
President Ramotar finished his speech by calling on the current graduates to contribute to the betterment of other Guyanese. The president stated that it is the graduates’ obligation to teach others and guide the younger generation.
Special presenter Genevieve Blackman, CEO/ Secretary of the Board of Industrial Training, added some humour to the graduation ceremony during the distribution of certificates.
She noted as a recent graduate herself, she is aware of all the hard work they have put in for “a piece of paper”. Blackman told the graduates that their certificate, while it is a piece of paper, also represents all their “hard work” and is an “indication of what you can provide to the world”.
