In celebration of Guyanese women on the occasion of International Women’s Day, President Dr Irfaan Ali shared some statistics which show Guyanese females playing leading roles in various sectors and programmes.
He was at the time delivering remarks at an event hosted by himself and First Lady Arya Ali at State House.
President Ali revealed that women are illustrating their vigor to strive for higher education and this is evident in the fact that 72.6% of students studying under the Guyana Online Academy of Learning (GOAL) are women.
Moreover, he revealed that of the total scholarships from the Ministry of Public Service, 57% went to women while 69% of the participants of the public sector training programme are women.
At the University of Guyana, President Ali revealed that 70% of the total student population are women. And even more remarkable, he opined, is that the withdrawal rate among females is among the lowest at 0.4%.
“Not only are women enrolled, women have the staying power, they have the fighting power…they have the ability to finish what they start,” President Ali asserted.
He contended that the withdrawal rate among males at the same institution are “significantly higher” despite the fact that women, oftentimes, are the ones who sacrifice more to stay in the programme.
In the health sector, President Ali shared that 60% of the country’s doctors are women while 98% of the nurses are women.
In housing, he disclosed that female-only-led applications constitute 46% of all applications while joint applications (comprising a female and male) constitute 17%.
“You don’t see this anywhere else,” President Ali pointed out.
Moreover, he explained that 65% of the government’s core home allocations went to women, mostly single mothers while 85% of those who benefitted from the home improvement subsidy are women.
The Guyanese Head of State explained that these developments do not just “happen” but rather, it shows that women work for what they want. He said this is evident in the fact that 79% of all the housing consultations were attended by women.
In the judiciary, President Ali revealed that 60% of those who administer justice in Guyana are women while in law enforcement, females make up 22% of the group.
According to the President, females also play dominating roles in other sectors such as agriculture.
“No other country in this region can come close to these numbers that we have here in Guyana and you the women of Guyana are the owners of these numbers and you should be very, very proud,” President Ali remarked.
