ICT internship for High Schoolers
─ a Ministry of Public Telecommunications pilot project
DPI, Guyana, Friday, April 5, 2019
Over the next two weeks, students from select Secondary Schools will be identified to join internship programmes with local companies to develop their Information Communication Technology (ICT) skills.
The internship project is a pilot programme organised by the Ministry of Public Telecommunications. The initiative is intended to provide secondary school students with an opportunity to interact with representatives from local leading ICT firms to spark an interest in the technological field.
The pilot, which commenced on March 25, at Carmel and Charlestown Secondary Schools, continued Friday at the Queenstown Secondary school, where Training Coordinator, Donnella Collison informed the students of the opportunity.
“One student from Queenstown Secondary, you’re going to have the opportunity to have a paid internship, at one of these companies for six weeks in July August holiday.”
In her address, Minister of Public Telecommunications, Catherine Hughes said by 2025, 70 per cent of the jobs in the world would require some knowledge of ICT and urged them to position themselves for the opportunities that lie ahead.
The Public Telecommunications Minister remarked, “and this is where my Ministry and these representatives here are working to make it easier for you to get involved”.
Minister Hughes told the students that they must not question their ability to succeed within the field noting that “the beauty with ICT is that you use it every day”. She advised the students that while they use their devices for recreational purposes, it can also be utilised to enhance their ICT skills and knowledge.
Present at the panel discussion were representatives from Tagman Media, Intellect Storm, Nexus Hub and Innovative Solutions, who are partnering with the ministry in this initiative to interest more students in ICTs and show them how their skills could be gainfully utilised.
The students were also exposed to the many avenues they could take to further careers in the ICT field. Representatives from the Government Technical Institute (GTI), Guyana Industrial Training Center (GITC) and the University of Guyana’s Computer Science Department educated the students on the varies programmes offered at each institution.
Anara Khan.
Images: Ameer Sattaur.