-for Senior Prison Officers
-by Nakasia Logan
History was today made as the University of Guyana rolls out its first course tailored specifically for the senior leadership of the Guyana Prison Service.
The Strategic Leadership Course for Senior Management Correctional Officers marks a major step towards what is being described as correctional diplomacy.
The University of Guyana and the Guyana Prison Service have launched two new training programmes aimed at strengthening leadership and communication within the country’s correctional system.
The programme, delivered through the Institute for Human Resilience, Strategic Security and the Future, is designed to equip top correctional officers with the strategic, ethical, and communication skills needed to navigate the high-pressure and often unpredictable prison environment and drive institutional transformation.
Deputy Director of the Institute Dr. Mishel Moriah says the course aims to cultivate leaders who can lead with integrity, manage complexity and inspire reform.
“The course will enhance strategic thinking and leadership effectiveness it is also expecting to strengthening thing ethical decision making and accountability for participants and promote institutional reform and also to advance communication stakeholders engagement and crisis leadership,” she said.
The course will run for 15 weeks, targeting senior officers.
It is accredited by the University of Guyana and carries four academic credits.
Deputy Director of Prisons, Kevin Pilgrim says this development reflects a shared commitment to building a more resilient, professional, and forward-looking correctional system in Guyana and in synergy with the wider Caribbean.
“When the Guyana Prison Service is trying to do is to align itself with the wider Caribbean, the Caribbean is headed by an association. The Guyana Prison service is committed towards that process, we will humbly we will share our resources and seek to collaborate with everyone who is pushing towards a unified Caribbean,” he said.
The launch comes at a time when the Prison Service is hosting its Annual Senior Officers’ Conference under the theme “Fostering Growth, Driving Synergy, and Securing the Future of Corrections.”