Howard Campbell, Gleaner Writer
IN recognition of the 10th anniversary of its reintroduction, the National Youth Service (NYS) will embark on a drive to train 10,000 members annually by 2013.
Reverend Adinhair Jones, executive director of the NYS, said this new initiative is aimed at reducing the number of unproductive youth.
Rev. Jones said NYS administrators were influenced to increase the number of recruits, after viewing statistics from the Inter-American Development Bank. According to Rev. Jones, the data show unemployment among youth at a "frightening" high.
Unattached youth
"More than 200,000 young people in Jamaica between the ages of 17 and 26 are considered unattached," Rev. Jones said yesterday during a press conference at the Liguanea Club, St. Andrew. "They are not going to school, not going to work or doing anything productive. That's a dangerous number for a country of the size of Jamaica," he stated.
The NYS was resurrected in 1996 by the Government of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson. Established by the administration of Prime Minister Michael Manley in 1973, the NYS was discontinued in 1980 by the Edward Seaga-led Jamaica Labour Party Government.
Work environment
Currently, the NYS trains over 5,000 youths annually at its camps in Chestervale, St. Andrew and Cobbla in Manchester. After one month, they are placed in a work environment for six to eight months.
Rev. Jones said the NYS plans to launch a comprehensive data bank of its achievements, policies and goals since it was first established 33 years ago.
The establishment of a dynamic affiliate, the Youth Empowerment Foundation of Jamaica, is also on the cards. Its mandate will be to seek new areas of funding for the NYS which is primarily financed by the Government.
The third leg is the construction of a multi-purpose complex which, among other things, will host youth conferences. Reverend Jones said the NYS hopes to build ties with Jamaicans living abroad through this medium.
A National Youth Service Day on November 29 will commemorate the 10th year of the NYS' second coming.
