Business School aiming to work with public, private sectors to upgrade employees

James Bovell
James Bovell

Principal of the 42-year-old, Brickdam-based Business School, James Bovell, has told Stabroek Business that the beginning of yet another academic year finds the institution ready to continue to offer both its customary High School curriculum as well as to focus its broader curriculum on responding to the training needs of the Guyanese society, particularly at the level of the business community.

“We are no stranger to the country’s educational landscape. In fact, most organisations in Guyana would have in their employ at least one staff member who would have benefited from training facilitated by the Business School,” Bovell told Stabroek Business.

Bovell said that he was pleased with the ongoing transitioning of the Business School, over time, “from being a commercial school to becoming an institution of higher learning, continuously re-aligning its operations with its vision of being able to play a major role in Higher Education in Guyana.”

According to Bovell, the institution’s nineteen-year old High School continues to provide a solid curriculum with many of its students moving to tertiary or other forms of higher education. ”We also have a very robust job placement programme for our graduating students,” Bovell says.

Meanwhile, Bovell told Stabroek Business that he also wished students contemplating applying for entry to the Business School to know that the institution provides a “range of professional development certification programmes” in areas     that include Business Management, and Project Management which are all internationally accredited. “Like our High School, our Vocational College has also been providing a relevant curriculum. We remain on the lookout to establish partnerships with local, regional and international bodies which can significantly benefit Guyana’s training and development landscape,” he added.

Meanwhile, Bovell says that the focus of the Business School on supporting institutions seeking to continually upgrade employee skills will see the rolling out of various “short duration and seminar type courses” in October. “We will be offering courses that have to do with  administrative support, supervisory and management essentials and personal development, among others. We are aware that while current businesses require the modern employee to be well developed, not a great amount of time is available for studies.”

Meanwhile, Bovell says that in keeping with its focus on broadening accessibility to educational opportunities, the Business School will be upgrading operations at its New Amsterdam location.

One of the first upgrading initiatives will be the launch of the American Association of Project Management (AAPM) certification programme which initiative will circumvent the need for students having to travel to Georgetown from Berbice in order to access the programme.

The Berbice location will also continue to offer ABE Business Manage-ment subjects, with registration still ongoing for the new semester, commencing in January 2018.