60 Freeburg students take first step towards welding careers

(Kaieteur News) – Sixty Grade 10 students of Freeburg Secondary School have embarked on a six-month welding programme aimed at equipping them with internationally recognised technical skills and preparing them for opportunities in Guyana’s rapidly expanding industrial sector.

Under the theme “Building the foundation for the future”, the initiative was conceptualised by the Deputy Chief Education Officer for Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), Dr. Ritesh Tularam. It aims to introduce young people to the fundamentals of welding and occupational safety, establishing a base for future technical education, apprenticeships, employment or entrepreneurship, the Ministry of Education said in a press release.

The course runs for 208 hours over 26 weeks at the Guyana Industrial Training Centre (GITC) workshop, located on Woolford Avenue, with the Ministry of Education providing transportation for all participating students. The programmes were specifically designed to condense a one-year programme. Combining weekday sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays with weekend training on Saturdays and Sundays, the schedule is designed to simulate a commercial workshop environment, with each session dividing four hours of daily contact time between theoretical safety briefings and continuous hands-on booth instruction.