Chairman of the National Youth Service (NYS), Keith Duncan (left), shares a joke with Minister of Education, Youth and Culture, Maxine Henry-Wilson, at the launch of the National Summer Employment Programme at Emancipation Park, New Kingston, on Tuesday evening. - Michael Sloley /Freelance Photographer MINISTER OF Education, Youth and Culture, Maxine Henry-Wilson on Tuesday, launched the National Youth Service (NYS) National Summer Employment Programme (NSEP) which is expected to provide employment for some 2,400 schoolers.
Minister Henry-Wilson in her address to the beneficiaries of the programme at the Emancipation Park in New Kingston said, "I believe the majority of our young people have very clear directions which they would like to follow. They have very clear ambitions they would like to achieve and, therefore, what they need are the opportunities to be able to travel along the paths and to achieve their ideals."
The programme will employ a total of 2,400 youths chosen from a field of 12,000 islandwide at a cost of $20 million. The beneficiaries, mainly fifth and sixth form students and, to a lesser extent, tertiary level students will gain employment in government agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) throughout the two-month summer season at three-week intervals.
Beneficiaries at the fifth form level will receive a stipend of $2,500 weekly, while those at the sixth form and tertiary levels will receive $3,000 weekly.
BENEFITS OF THE PROGRAMME
The Education Minister, in outlining the benefits of partaking in the programme, noted that "the National Summer Employment Programme gives you the exposure which you would perhaps not have had you not been selected. It allows you to see the real world of work while facilitating your re-entering your educational options."
In addition, she said the youngsters would have the opportunity of earning something toward their educational expenses.
The NSEP was initiated two summers ago by the Government to address large-scale unemployment among the youth population during the summer holidays. For the last two years, the programme has provided employment for more than 11,000 persons. Last year the programme provided employment for over 5,000 persons at a cost of $50 million, allocated by the Ministry of Education.
