Relevance of Carnegie School of Home Economics remains undiminished

Facilitator Carlene Bagot (left) with CSHE principal Myrna Lee

Last Friday, a modest ceremony to bring to a close a short cake-making course at the Carnegie School of Home Economics (CSHE) – one of the many ‘give-back’ initiatives by Guyanese who have in one way or another, experienced the institution – afforded us the opportunity to have a brief, but while it lasted, leisurely conversation with Myrna Lee, the principal of the institution.

The CSHE is currently in its 86th year of existence and in its capacity as one of the oldest formal educational institutions in Guyana, its most noteworthy accomplishment has been the fact that it has, over those years, served as a provider of skills training in some of the country’s most important service sector-related disciplines. Some overseas institutions and cruise ships have also benefitted from training provided by the CSHE.

This time around the benefactor was Carlene Bagot, a London-based Guyanese whose Cake-making Course is her second hands-on contribution undertaken during successive holiday visits to Guyana. On Friday, her end-of course presentation drew attention to, among other things, the need for the CSHE to raise its game to take account of the broader expectations of the country’s hospitality industry as Guyana becomes part of the oil and gas industry. That in a sense, could well be seen as a wake-up call to government to begin to get its act together in terms of just where it intends to go in better positioning the institution to play its desired role.