(Oil Now) As the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (C-TVET) continues the pursuit of improved skills training and development, ExxonMobil Guyana has been playing a leading role in supporting its goals which head of the proramme, Clinton Williams, says is helping to ensure the oil and gas and other sectors are “properly peopled”.

“The Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training has been working very closely with ExxonMobil Guyana for several years to identify training areas where development will make sure that the emerging oil and gas [sector] is properly peopled,” Williams, who is Chairman of the Council, stated.

He also pointed out that Exxon’s focus goes beyond the parameters of oil and gas, as they have also been working together to ensure the provision of sustainable skills development for young Guyanese in other traditional and non-traditional areas, as well. Some of the early collaborations included a baseline study by the Centre for Local Business Development to determine demand and supply gap analyses for technical and vocational skills as well as competency proficiencies. The Council was also involved in a one-week long initiative that included introduction to oil and gas, and safety awareness training.

Other partnership programmes included a basic industrial safety programme to promote a new workforce safety culture, in response to the industrial sector’s growth. “During the last year, we have worked together and now have fourteen safety champions in eight of our public institutions trained, representing nearly every TVET facility,” the Chairman added.

The recently launched US$100 million Greater Guyana Initiative by ExxonMobil and Stabroek Block co-venturers Hess and CNOOC, has seen C-TVET named as a beneficiary.  Under this project, there will be a development scheme for the electrical and welding disciplines which will result in the generation of an enhanced technical workforce. “These two pilot programmes involve thirteen training instructors in these areas at the New Amsterdam Technical Institute and the Linden Technical Institute. Significant efforts include the areas of curriculum reviews, facility upgrades, and support for instructor training,” Williams indicated.

He explained that the intention is to share learnings from these programmes and replicate the training modules within other technical and vocational institutions across the regions of Guyana in order to significantly boost the supply of skills, which will result in ensuring employability and empowerment.