The Ministry of Education on Wednesday unveiled a programme called Get Ready for Opportunities to Work (GROW) for youths who were not able to complete their Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) or who obtained less than five passes.
Minister of Education Priya Manickchand on Thursday evening said there has been an enormous response to the programme since the launching.
Manickchand speaking during a televised interview stated, “Since we launched, we have seen over a thousand applications and it has been just over 24 hours, and a whole set more being processed. So clearly people see the need for this.”
The Education Minister explained this is an effort in reducing the number of persons leaving school without an education and to ensure persons entering Technical and Vocational Education and Training institutions can have some kind of qualification.
“We also want to redefine what successful school leaving is: is it only a CXC certificate with all subjects? Is that the way we’re defining [...] because if it is then we’re not catering and it is right now, we’re not catering for the kind of Guyana that we believe will be upon us in a few short years.”
Interested individuals can apply for a Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework (SCQF) Levels 5 and 6 Diploma or a General Education Development (GED) Diploma.
The SCQF diploma is a comprehensive preparatory programme to be delivered within a three to six month period targeting applicants who have at least completed Grade Nine of their Secondary Education or sat the CSEC examination but did not obtain a pass in five subjects.
The students will study seven (7) courses: Communications, Business, Mathematics with Excel, Behavioural Management, Marketing, Introductory Economics, and International Relations. The Diploma is internationally accredited and is offered by the Scottish Qualification Authority (SQA) in partnership with Jain University, India.
Upon completion, students will be able to enrol in Bachelor’s Degree programmes in Humanities; Commerce; Business and Management; Computer Science and Information Technology at Jain University or any other University accepting SCQF’s qualifications.
Meanwhile, the General Educational Development (GED) Diploma is offered through Texila American University (Guyana) and other partners. It is an intensive three month programme targeting applicants who were unable to write or who did not attain passes in five subjects at the CXC/CSEC level.
The GED is equivalent to the United States of America High School Diploma.
Students who choose the GED Diploma will be exposed to four core areas: Mathematics, Social Studies, Science, and Language Arts. On successful completion of the GED programme, students will be able to matriculate to four (4) year Bachelor’s degree programmes at Texila University, Guyana or any other University that accepts GED qualifications.
All classes will be conducted online during evening hours to accommodate students who work during the daytime while examinations will also be conducted online at the end of the programme. Interested persons can register on the GOAL website (www.goal.edu.gy).
These programmes fall under the Government of Guyana's 20,000 Online Scholarship Initiative.
