Those who successfully complete online courses under the government’s Work-force Recovery Initiative will be issued certificates by the Ministry of Education (MoE) that will be recognised by both private and public sector employers following the signing of a key agreement yesterday.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the MoE, the Ministry of Public Service, and the Private Sector Commission to ensure that persons who take advantage of the courses would be employable and have their certificates of completion recognised for the particular skill studied.
The Government of Guyana through the MoE in collaboration with The Common-wealth of Learning is making a wide variety of short courses on the Coursera learning platform available free of cost until December 31st 2020. The intention is to provide free online training opportunities to the general population to improve their skills and competencies to enable them to improve performance and employability.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand said that the decision to join the private and public sector on this matter came about after fielding queries about whether the skills acquired would be recognised after being certified. She said that the 4,000-plus courses which are being delivered by Coursera would be equivalent to what is being offered by Ivy League universities. The two sectors, therefore, were not only pleased to join the effort to promote this type of educational opportunity for Guyanese, but more importantly, to ensure they would be able to apply for upscaling positions, continue at the position they would be skilled for or even start a new career through these courses. Additionally it will be seen as an enhancement for all Guyanese.
The private sector has expressed its willingness to consult the database of persons who have passed through this programme, whenever they need particular skills or are looking to hire, the minister said.
Public Service Minister Sonia Parag, during the signing ceremony, said that the initiative is welcomed by the public sector and it sees it not only as an opportunity for persons to gain knowledge but to gain Ivy League university-level knowledge. She added that public servants will be able to qualify at a level of performance that will satisfy employers. Parag said that persons who have completed secondary school will now have an opportunity to train for a skill despite the restrictions brought on by the COVID pandemic where it’s more accommodating for them to study online. It would also be worry-free as graduates can be certain that their certificates from the various courses will be recognised as a qualification within whatever job description is being applied for.
Chairman of the Private Sector Commission Nicholas Deygoo-Boyer applauded the MoU and said it would benefit the people of the nation and do what it was initiated to do. “The Memorandum of Understanding represents words, but the actions behind the Memorandum of Understanding represents people, it represents people who want to empower themselves for what is going on in a coronavirus pandemic and what is going to happen after a coronavirus pandemic to the Guyanese economy,” he said.
According to Manickchand, the Commonwealth of Learning and Coursera got together at the beginning of the pandemic because so many persons were being forced out of jobs and worried about re-employment. Hence, the two bodies decided to craft a workplace recovery programme where various persons across the commonwealth would be able to reskill, enhance or acquire the skill capacity necessary for specific jobs. She said that since Guyana joined the programme in September, more than 3,500 persons registered and more than 17,500 are actively on the platform, while 970 persons have graduated. These numbers she said represent what Guyanese want, especially since persons as young as 13-year-olds have joined.
The minister also assured that the hinterland communities are not being left behind. She said that the ministry is “aggressively pursuing means to be able to allow the opportunity to be enjoyed by the residents of the hinterland,” and thus far, there has been participation from regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine but the numbers aren’t as significant as those on the coastland and Georgetown.
Persons have until October 31 to join any of the programmes by using Ministry of Education/CoL/Coursera Upskill initiative at https://education.gov.gy/upskill
