Three hundred and nine women, to date, have graduated from the Non-Traditional Skills Training for Women programme with newly acquired skills in carpentry, electrical installation, masonry and plumbing.

The second batch of 150 women to graduate from the programme, which is funded by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in collaboration with the Institute of Distance and Continuing Education (IDCE), did so on Friday last at the Lichas Hall in Linden.

The first batch was 159 women and a third batch, which began training on November 27, at the Essequibo Technical Institute will graduate in May. The first training programme was conducted at the Government Technical Institute in Georgetown.

National Coordinator of the programme, Glenyss James, in an overview said that the response to the programme in Linden was overwhelming. She said that bearing in mind that 159 persons had already been trained in the first cycle in the city, they felt that the programme should accept 80 women from the Linden community. Two hundred and three women were interviewed and the programme organisers were forced to review with the Principal of the Linden Technical Institute (LTI) the maximum number of persons that could be accommodated in each skill area.

James said that they had left permanent reminders of their five-month stint at the LTI. The masonry students, she said, built concrete walls, prepared and laid the steel work for the concrete floor and finished it with ceramic tiles. They also built walls in the new wing. The cafeteria was also finished with ceramic tiles.

The carpentry students built doorframes of various sizes for doorways in the new wing and the cafeteria and repaired a section of the roof in the main building. They also made bookshelves, tables and chairs and a number of small household items.

And while the automotive repairs trainees did not leave any visible evidence of their stint, James said, they dismantled, assembled and tested live engines, serviced and replaced vehicle suspensions and serviced various types of brakes.

The electrical installation trainees did the electrical installation in the cafeteria, installed outlets on the lower and upper floors of the new wing and serviced the entire building on a regular basis. They replaced and repaired lamps, outlets, switches and defective circuits as required.

Those in industrial maintenance gained experience in the use of cutting tools, basic welding, marking and cutting various sizes of metals, use of portable power tools and operations of the lathe and shaping machine. They made a number of small items including bottle openers, angle gauges, roti pans, metal rolling pins and internal caliphers. They designed and fabricated gates and window grills for members of the wider community, built barbecue grills, hasp and staples, metal chair frames and garden forks. They also built and installed metal handrails along the institute's corridors and stairs of the new wing.

Gender and life coping skills were also a part of the programme.

Congratulating the graduands in brief remarks, University of Guyana Deputy Vice Chancellor, Dr Marlene Cox, said that at last year' meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) a key point was the development of a human resource development strategy for the Caribbean.

She said that a communique issued at the end of this meeting said that "a framework for the human capital development should be the building of new structures of power sharing at the household, community, national, regional and global levels where both men and women can participate fully in developing a system of cooperation in decision making as equal partners in the sustainable development of societies."

Dr Cox said she believed that the need to care for themselves and their families was the driving force behind women breaking out of traditional roles and as such she was certain that in the not-too-distant future, the term `non-traditional skills' would no longer be applicable.

Among the graduates who received prizes were overall best student and best student in carpentry, Denise Sturge. Also receiving a prize for outstanding performance in carpentry was Debra Craig. Debra Blair and Ann Headley received prizes for automotives; Kim Gittens and Denise Farose for electrical installation; Amanda Forde and Michelle Cornelius for industrial maintenance; Rosamund Blair and Scellis Foster for masonry and Michelle Ellis and Simone Burgess for welding.

The guest speaker was educator and women's rights activist, Andaiye. Acting Representative of the IDB country office, Chester Bembridge; Regional Education Officer, Ruthel Spencer; and President of the Linden Chamber of Commerce, Basil Jaipaul, also made remarks. Miss Guyana 2001, Olive Gopaul, presented the certificates.