General Secretary of the People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Dr Bharrat Jagdeo, has reiterated his party’s commitment to supporting the development of young Guyanese, as he warned against narratives claiming that enough oil revenue is being received to hand out to the public.
Dr Jagdeo was a guest on the Lockdown radio show yesterday, where he answered a number of questions, including one that sought his response to young people who may be wondering whether they are receiving their fair share of Guyana’s oil income.
The PPP General Secretary pointed out that young people could depend on the government to use monies to push them toward their dreams, as it continues to spend heavily on education and other empowerment projects.
“We are going to push you to study, to get a skill; whatever it costs we are going to pay for that. Our budget for education moved from $53b in 2020 it’s $185b now per year. When you add what we are spending on education, on health care and roads and bridges, it’s more than all the oil money in the budget that we’ve received. Only on these three areas, leaving out every other area of the economy; so that’s how much oil money we have for those who think we are overflowing with oil money,” Dr Jagdeo said.
With increased access to Internet connection, he said his party will bring tertiary education to Guyanese in their homes, where they could study for a university degree online.
Already, 39,000 persons are accessing this service through the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL), and another 42,000 are receiving technical training.
“We have another 42,000 who are trained through the Women’s Investment and Innovation Network (WIIN), Board of Industrial Training and Get Ready for Opportunities to Work (GROW) programme. These are young men who we are picking up from many parts of the communities, who might be sitting on a roadside, thinking they don’t have a future; we want to talk to them; they’re learning to drive a truck, an excavator, a bulldozer, and they’re making $12,000 a day, many of them,” the PPP General Secretary said.
The government has paid for the full training of these persons. Dr Jagdeo said that this will continue regardless of the cost. He said his party believes in investing in people and will ensure that every young person has an education and/or a skill, as well as additional support to ensure their specific advancements.
