Efforts on to help youth better transition to working world
The Youth Division of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth has programmes in place to aid youth in making that crucial transition from school to the workplace, and these programmes have been bearing fruit.
Minister of Culture, Sports and Youth, Stephen Lashley acknowledged the above in a recent interview with The Barbados Advocate. Acknowledging Monday’s May Day celebrations, the focus of which will be on the productivity of workers and taking note of the need for school leavers to have a better fit in the working world, so they too can give or their best, Minister Lashley noted the ongoing work of the Youth Division to achieve this aim.
“We have a number of programmes in the Youth Division, that are designed to do that. We have a programme called Endless Possibilities, which is a training and mentorship and job placement programme which has really worked very well,” the Youth Minister noted.
“We certainly have been able to get on board in excess of 30 private sector partners. The intention of that programme is to give a second chance to those students who may have left school and may not have been at the level of qualification that would earn them a job, but we have worked with our private sector partners to place them in a period of mentorship, with a view to (fostering) their employment and that programme is still being executed,” Minister Lashley pointed out.
He also pointed to the Barbados Youth Service, which has a job placement component and also to the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, noting, “We are very cognisant of the need to transition young people into the world of work and we have placed a lot of resources behind that, through our programmes in the Youth Division”.
The Youth Minister also highlighted the cultural industries and the opportunities there for school leavers to excel.
“Of course we have the creative industries as well, which is designed to not only speak of work but to empower Barbadian creatives to develop their own jobs, their own businesses and so on. So it’s a combination of not just them getting a job, but being able to form a business and to ensure that it can be sustainable,” he said.
“So I certainly would like to confirm and say that we have certainly placed a lot of resources behind the very important idea of ensuring that our young people can transition and they have responded very well and we will continue that effort,” he told this newspaper. (RSM)