Dionne Rose, Staff Reporter
Ruel Boothe (right), security manager at the Ministry of Labour, checks the luggage of students leaving for the ministry's first summer overseas job programme, yesterday. - RUDOLPH BROWN/CHIEF PHOTOGRAPHER
SEVENTY STUDENTS from 15 tertiary institutions left the island yesterday for the United States to participate in the Ministry of Labour's first overseas summer job programme.
They were the first batch of 155 who have been selected to work at hotels in the states of Florida, Colorado and Connecticut for three to four months.
The students were drawn from different disciplines but will be working in the hospitality industry in the areas of food and beverage, housekeeping, golf and ground attendants, pool and beach attendants and valets.
Derrick Kellier, Minister of Labour, in addressing the students before they left the island, said that he was pleased to see the excitement on their faces, but urged them to be good ambassadors.
TALKS OF EXPANSION
"When you go abroad and work well, you give a good account of yourselves and your country (and it) augurs well for the programme because we are seeking to have the programme expanded year by year," he said.
Alvin McIntosh, permanent secretary in the Labour Ministry, encouraged the students to make good use of the experience. "I am beseeching you ... to hold Jamaica's flag high and let us be proud of you so that next year we can have multiples of 71 going up, but you have to create the path as the forerunner of this programme," said Mr. McIntosh.
The first and second-year university students were enthusiastic to be going on the programme. Nineteen-year-old Dian DaCosta, who will be working as a pool and beach attendant, told The Gleaner that she would miss her family and friends at home, but was looking forward to the cultural exchange.
"It is a once-in-a-lifetime cultural experience. I would probably not go on another vacation in a couple more years because I would probably be working next year," the University of the West Indies student said.
Alan Spencer, a student of the Portmore Community College, sees the programme as an opportunity to get a first-hand experience of the hospitality and entertainment industry, which he is currently studying.
The programme, known as the J1Work and Travel, was first piloted last year when five students from the College of Arts, Science and Education were sent to Homestead Landscaping in Vermont to work as landscapers.
The programme is administered through the Council on International Exchange and Education, an organisation which sponsors over 30,000 students all over the world, the Jamaica Central Organisation and the Labour Ministry.
To be eligible for the programme students must:
Be between 18 and 30 years old.
Be a full-time student of a college/university or other recognised post-secondary educational institution.
Be registered in a degree/diploma course of at least two years' duration.
Be in at least the first year of study.
Not to be in the final year of study.
Only participate within the summer vacation period of the college/university.
