The Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Pauline Sukhai has announced a proposed new employment initiative for over 500 Amerindian youths who will be given a stipend to assist the Village councils to manage and administer their villages.
A release yesterday from the Government Information Agency (GINA) said that the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs will spearhead this employment programme and after consultation with village toshaos and councils, will identify the youths to participate in the programme. The ministry will seek to recruit, at the least three youths from each of the 169 Amerindian communities to equip them with training to serve as a ‘semi-Community Development Officer.’
It is proposed that the youths will receive a stipend of $25,000-$35,000 per month and the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs is hoping to launch the programme and commence the training by June.
According to GINA, Minister Sukhai said that youths, in addition to assisting to inspect and monitor development programmes within their villages, will also help scrutinise the proposed Community Development Projects (CDPs). These CDPs are proposed projects designed to transform the village economies in such sectors as agriculture, tourism, mining, transportation and small businesses.
GINA said that this new initiative will complement other training and education programmes introduced to improve the lives of the hinterland residents.
The Hinterland Scholarship Programme caters for hinterland students who gain 470 to 479 marks at the National Grade Six Assessment to be granted a regional scholarship to attend high schools in their regions while those with 480 and above are granted a national scholarship to attend a secondary school in Georgetown. After successfully completing their studies, they can apply for scholarships to pursue tertiary studies overseas or at the University of Guyana.
Hinterland secondary students with the CSEC subjects to gain admittance to the Cyril Potter College of Education are afforded the opportunity to receive teacher training right in their regions through the Distance Education Learning programme.
Hinterland youths are encouraged to apply to the Health Ministry’s training programmes to receive training in a number of positions such as community health workers, nurses, nurse aides and technicians.
