Guyana and Canada launched a transformative programme on Sunday afternoon to train 2,000 Guyanese to become full-stack developers – or persons who can build and maintain both the front-end and the back-end of a website -and ensure they have high-paying jobs afterwards.
Canada is putting CA$9.5 million into the initiative and Guyana is footing the rest of the bill. President Irfaan Ali said the full cost of the initiative is G$4 billion.
The front end (the parts of a website a user sees and interacts with) and the back end (the behind-the-scenes data storage and processing) require different skill sets. Graduates of the programme will be qualified to competently perform the duties of a full-stack developer, including PHP programming, Java Script programming, mobile application, python programming, website security and website front-end programming.
The programme is called One Guyana Digital and was launched at the Arthur Chung Conference Centre at Turkeyen, Georgetown. It will be run by the hugely successful Guyana Online Academy (GOAL) and the Toronto Metropolitan University. The Chief Executive Officer of One Guyana Digital is Mark Etwaroo, a Canada-based Guyanese, who worked with the university to develop the module for the programme.
He said tuition for the programme is valued at CA$10,000. Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s visiting Minister of International Development, hailed the initiative, recognising the goal to ensure the participation of women and indigenous peoples.
Ahmed Hussen, Canada’s Minister of International Development arrives at the Arthur Chung Conference and is greeted by Ministers Sonia Parag and Dr Ashni Singh. (Shatanand Anude/News Room photo)
President Ali said 60 per cent of those who have already signed up are women and 20 per cent are indigenous people. Through partnerships with companies and organisations employing full-stack developers, One Guyana Digital promises to provide an effective employment channel for graduates, with the lowest paying being CA$25,000, Etwaroo said.
