29 graduate from Mining School
─First batch of students from Reg. 10
─Students acquire 80% pass rate
─Training for the oil and gas sector to commence soon
DPI, Guyana, Saturday, September 28th 2019
Twenty-nine Region Ten young people have graduated as the first batch of mining students from the Guyana Mining School on September 27. Twenty-six of the students were from Linden while three came from the community of Kwakwani.
The graduates acquired an over 80 percent pass rate after completing the Mineral Prospecting and Map Reading Level One Course. After completing six units of the course, the students are now equipped with the basic skills needed to become employable in the mining sector. However, they will soon be able to further upgrade their qualification as Levels Two and Three of the course will be made available before the end of the year.
Director of the Mining School, Mr. John Applewhite-Hercules detailed what the six months course encompassed. This included six units, ranging from: following regulations in the mining sector, application for exploration and mining rights/properties, effectively reading and interpreting maps and navigation instruments.
In his charge to the graduates, Minister of Natural Resources, Hon. Raphael Trotman posited that there is a bright future in mining and it will remain a part of our culture. “Mining is a part of who we are as Guyanese….we hope not to see an end to mining but to make it better, make it more sustainable and to make it safer…Mining is going to be forever, a part of who we are and what we do.”
Therefore, he noted it is imperative that the nation’s youths, residing particularly in mining regions, are equipped with the skills needed. According to Minister Trotman, efforts will be made to expand and strengthen the programme to not only focus on the technicalities of mining but on the initiation of safer mining practices to protect and conserve our environment.
Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Guyana Mining School, MP Audwin Rutherford underscored the progress the school has made since the commencement of training on 31 January 2019. Through the creation of short-term goals, Rutherford observed, programmes are available at all technical and vocational institutions, across Guyana. “We have refocused and are aware that pre-training is best…and this reason we have been collaborating with the technical institutions since we feel a large percentage of our youths trained at these institutions will gravitate to the mining industry,” he said.
The school’s projection now is to also embark on training in skill sets applicable to the oil and gas sector. Also, the institution is moving towards accreditation and the process of registration has commenced.