The Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Centre of Excellence was commissioned on Friday, 11 September. Minister of Education Sonia Parag attended the ceremony.
The Centre is in the same compound as the New Amsterdam Technical Institute. The institute is in Region Six.
The Centre was established through a partnership among the Greater Guyana Initiative, the Ministry of Education, the Council for Technical and Vocational Education and Training and LearnCorp International. It will serve as the official host of the Level Three Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) in Occupational Safety and Health Programme, and as a national and regional training hub dedicated to advancing occupational safety and health standards.
Parag said the facility aligns with the government’s 2025 manifesto commitment to build capacity through the expansion of technical and vocational education and training. She said it will serve the country's core ambition for expanded technical skills nationally and will become a regional hub.
She said the expansion of technical skills must go hand in hand with stronger occupational safety standards in the field.
Parag said Guyana is an oil-producing nation and that the country is developing at a pace "that is now called the fastest-growing economy". She asserted that "we do not take care of our most valuable asset, which is our people".
She said the success of the training centre will be measured by the number of students enrolled, and by how many students go on to become leaders of excellence in Guyana and further afield.
