Designing their futures
– 31 BIT graduates complete garment construction training
DPI, Guyana, Thursday, October 10, 2019
Do you dream about dressmaking or wish you could create your own clothes? Well, perhaps a course in garment construction is for you.
The Board of Industrial Training (BIT) is making the ‘fashionista’ dreams for some a reality.
On Wednesday, BIT certified 31 persons in garment construction following a four-month programme held at the ‘Youth with Purpose Training Centre’ at Crane, West Coast of Demerara.
Chatting with the Department of Public Information (DPI), Shellon Thomas, 21, said she was seeking employment when a friend told her about the programme. Thomas exclaimed that “it was the best piece of information,” she has ever received. She now plans to take her new-found knowledge and skills to establish a small business. “I can now put together a fashionable piece of my choosing, from scratch. This programme gave me hope; I learned a skill that I can now contribute to my community,” Thomas said.
A single-parent, Clarita Isaacs, said while her mother was a seamstress, she never had the opportunity to follow in her footsteps. Today, she can now carry on the family legacy. “I will take my training and sew school uniforms for my children, nieces and nephews. I will have to save up my finances so that I can establish my own sewing outlet, but with this push from the Board of Industrial Training, nothing is impossible for me now,” Isaacs mentioned.
Addressing the graduates, Regional Executive Officer (REO), for Essequibo Islands-West Demerara, Region 3, Jennifer Ferrier-Dougall said they should see themselves as “youths with a purpose, ready to take on the future.”
“Young people, you must be proud of who you are, what you are doing, and where you came from. This government is here for the youths of Guyana, the Board of Industrial Training has over the years embarked on an agenda, which seeks to empower young people, giving them the requisite tool to become self-employed,” Dougall explained.
She noted that the semi-autonomous agency, which falls under the purview of the Ministry of Social Protection offers independence, financing and job creation for the local youth population.
In addition to garment construction, the graduates were taught Mathematics, English Language and also participated in debate competitions amongst themselves.
By the end of 2019, it is expected that a total of 25,000 persons will have benefited from classes offered by the Board of Industrial Training. Other programmes offered by the agency include masonry, electrical installation, carpentry, information technology, catering and, more recently, a course in boatbuilding was added to the curriculum.