Latest update April 18th, 2024 12:59 AM
Jul 17, 2016 News
By Leonard Gildarie
Over the past few days, Guyana lost one of its most prominent faces in the engineering field.
Walter Willis was a colourful character, whose knowledge and humour combined to make him an extremely affable person. His expertise, with respect to the local terrain, made him the go-to person when it came to solving some of the engineering dilemmas and ticklish situations that crop up from time to time on this little rock of ours.
Of course, we had our fights, but ‘Walter the Wicked’ as he was fondly referred to in our newsroom, was such a likable person that it was difficult to be angry with him for long. His trademark long white hair and hat made him a lovable character.
Apart from being an approachable person, Willis was involved in a number of prominent state projects including the Amaila Falls access roads which ran into so much trouble and the Haags Bosch dumpsite. He was reportedly taken off the Haags Bosch project after clashing with the contractor. Willis was an outspoken man.
I could not help but reflect on Willis’ death this week and the significance on our education system. Every year, we speak of how well our students are doing. We dwell on a few high achievers and essentially forget about the rest of the pack.
Where do all the graduates go? I have always wondered. And we keep on churning out high school graduates, which amounts to just that…a high school education. Many students just do not continue and enter into the job market.
We hear complaints about workplaces not finding qualified and experienced workers. I get worried every week at Kaieteur News. We are short on reporters. It is the same problem at every media house. Reporters have been moving from one entity to the other.
The University of Guyana has been offering communication courses. I am not sure where the graduates are going, but only a few are making it to the media. Many of the applicants fail at the very first test in the newsroom…which in most cases involve writing a piece on a current issue dominating the news. My English teachers would raise hell if she saw some of what is presented.
We have a shortage of skills in almost every area. Recently, a good friend who has several business interests, spanning mining and rice, complained that he is facing difficulty to find a manager. He has advertised, but finding that one person is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
We have lost tremendous capacity because of migration, and it will not get easier. Many commentators and experts have been calling for our education system to be revamped, with a needs assessment study done on the job market.
In recent years, developments in the mining sector, and now oil, have changed the job market landscape. Mining itself has seen openings for excavator and other operators of heavy equipment, mechanics, and geologists. It is upsetting when we hear that companies have to fly in geologists.
The Government Technical Institute and University of Guyana have to urgently revamp some of their programmes with an aim for the market. Perhaps we can talk to the US and other donor countries for help on a study to determine what is needed.
Fortunately for us in recent years, quite a few hundred jobs have been absorbed by the call centres, like Qualfon, Teleperformance and a Berbice facility owned by the Nandpersauds.
The time to fix this problem is now.
JAGDEO ADDING MORE DANGER TO GUYANA AND THE REGION
Apr 18, 2024
SportsMax – West Indies captain Hayley Matthews has been named Wisden’s leading Twenty20 Cricketer for 2023, as she topped all and sundry, including her male counterparts. Alan Gardner looks...Kaieteur News – Compliments of the Ministry of Education, our secondary school children are being treated to a stage... more
By Sir Ronald Sanders Waterfalls Magazine – On April 10, the Permanent Council of the Organization of American States... more
Freedom of speech is our core value at Kaieteur News. If the letter/e-mail you sent was not published, and you believe that its contents were not libellous, let us know, please contact us by phone or email.
Feel free to send us your comments and/or criticisms.
Contact: 624-6456; 225-8452; 225-8458; 225-8463; 225-8465; 225-8473 or 225-8491.
Or by Email: [email protected] / [email protected]