PHILIPSBURG--In an effort to tackle unemployment, government has embarked on a massive NAf. 913,500 programme to train and prepare the unemployed and persons who are on social welfare for the job market.
The details of the programme called "Employability through training" were released to a cross section of representatives of the business community, government departments and labour on Monday.
The 250 persons ages 18-55 who are registered as unemployed and those who are receiving social welfare are being targeted through the programme.
Project leader Nikima Groeneveldt-Hickinson said the Social Economic Initiative (SEI) was needed not only because of the level of unemployment, but also because a large percentage of those registered as unemployed were low-skilled with minimal
education.
She told the gathering at Dr. A.C. Wathey Legislative Hall 106 persons had registered as unemployed this year alone. A total of 29 of those unemployed have a high school education while 48 have other secondary education. "These are alarming numbers, because it shows that the unemployed labour has a low education."
The training aspect of the programme will focus on building persons in areas such as customer service, communication, English language, computer skills, and project development. Groeneveldt-Hickinson said it had been determined that these were areas in which unemployed persons were generally weak and the intention was to increase their strengths to enhance their employability.
The marine industry, jewellery, construction, hospitality and IT industry are areas in which Groeneveldt-Hickinson said employment was in high demand and are among the areas in which persons will receive additional training with a view to securing employment.
Start-up
The programme will be conducted in four phases. Aspects of the first phase have already started and will be intensified in the coming months. This phase ends in November. During Phase I ? the preparation phase ? a steering committee comprising representatives of government and the private sector will be formed to oversee, implement, monitor and evaluate the programme. Regular assessments will be made.
Persons who are currently registered as unemployed will first be assessed and divided into two groups: unemployed and those on social welfare. Information sessions will then be held with participants to sensitise them about the programme.
Groeneveldt-Hickinson said information sessions would be held in the various communities ? at the Community Help Desks ? to encourage registration. The idea is to reach out to the unemployed and take the information to them. A commitment will also be sought from businesses to help secure positions for the unemployed in this phase.
Training, jobs
Phase II of the programme ? slated to start in November ? will focus primarily on training candidates. Educational institutions or foundations will be given a chance to bid for a chance to participate in the training.
Phase III of the programme, expected to start in 2012, will be for persons to be integrated in the job market and Phase IV ? projected to start in the first quarter of 2013 ? will signal the completion of the programme.
The project leader stressed the importance of the cooperation of businesses in this initiative. "The intention is for businesses to support the project," she said, adding that support could be given in areas such as on-the-job training and eventual employment.
Of the NAf. 913,500 allocated to the project NAf. 312,144 will go towards phase one, NAf. 595,811 to phase two and NAf. 5,545 to phase three.
In brief remarks Labour and Social Affairs Minister Cornelius de Weever said everyone needed to work together to keep young people employed.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Social Security VSA Acting Secretary General Jorien Wuite said the programme was long-awaited. She said the subject of unemployment and employment had been discussed on many occasions with many partners as well as within government. However, she stressed that the success of the programme depended on the level of partnership forged with businesses.
Concerns
While the programme was lauded by those present, representatives of some businesses raised some concerns and gave tips for tweaking the programme.
A representative of the marine industry said she was happy to see the industry listed as the number one area for training. She said the industry had a fruitful relationship with the Secondary Vocational Education SBO programme and urged parties to look into this.
One of the challenges of training, she said, is that industry is usually too busy to train during the high season and when time is available during the off-season, there is nothing to do. She said there were other areas such as accounting in the industry in which persons could be trained and then have a chance to grow in the field.
Businessman and Indian Merchants Association (IMA) representative Damu Rawtani stressed the need for compulsory internships. He said students who remained at home after school, as well as those returning home, should be given an opportunity for internships so that persons could be trained in areas that businesses needed. He also queried how the funds allocated for the programme would be used. An attendee also asked about the sustainability of the programme.
Prime Minister Sarah Wescot-Williams was among those who attended the presentation. Education Minister Rhoda Arrindell attended the latter part.
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