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GOING FOR GROWTH FEATURE
| THURSDAY, MAY 7, 2015
A
PPROXIMATELY 30,000
young persons from across
the island are being tar-
geted for participation in the
HEART Trust/National Training
Agency (NTA) National Unat-
tached Youth Programme
(NUYP).
The full roll-out of the pro-
gramme will take place in July and
will target young people, aged 17
to 30, for skills training and certifi-
cation, where these have not been
attained, particularly at the sec-
ondary level, and job placement,
either through direct recruitment
or apprenticeship for persons who
have already acquired qualifica-
tions, but encounter challenges
securing employment.
The programme’s modalities,
to be delivered between Mondays
and Thursdays at designated
locations in the various commu-
nities, will primarily engage par-
ticipants in skills training; per-
sonal development; and literacy
and numeracy upgrading, where
necessary. Participants will also
receive a weekly stipend of
$2,000.
The roll-out in July, involving
some 24 constituencies, will
represent the programme’s sec-
ond phase, following the pilot
currently under way with just
over 200 participants, in west-
ern St Andrew and north east
Manchester.
Selections in the remaining
constituencies should be complet-
ed in time for the participants to
commence programme engage-
ments in January 2016, with a
minimum of 100 persons being
selected from each constituency
by members of parliament and
councillors.
The programme is consistent
with the Government’s job cre-
ation and economic growth
strategic priority, focusing on
integrating youth into national
development and human capi-
tal development, focusing on
education.
In welcoming the NUYP, Edu-
cation Minister Ronald Thwaites
noted that it is tailored to effec-
tively address the needs of
Jamaica’s significant number of
unattached youth.
“The estimate of the number of
young people who leave school
with little or no qualifications and
who have not found employment
varies between 130,000 and
150,000 annually.
FILE PHOTOS
(From left) Wayne Sinclair, executive director, GSW Animation; Dr Wayne Wesley, executive director, HEART Trust/NTA; and Fayval Williams, director of
GSW Animation. Looking on in back row are, from left, Donald Foster, managing director of the Transport Authority; Mark Wallen, HEART’s director of
Workforce Solutions and Business Development; Denworth Finnikin, senior director for the Workforce Development & Employment Division of the HEART
Trust/NTA, and Diane Edwards, president of JAMPRO, at an MOU signing.
From left are Tesha Allen, Chadale Bent, Abbygail Blackwood,
students Stony Hill HEART Trust/NTA at the National
Volunteer Symposium 2014 ‘Volunteerism A Spotlight on
Youth Leadership and Innovation’ at The Jamaica Pegasus
hotel in New Kingston on Friday, December 5, 2014 .
Get involved
To grab the opportunity
of being part of the
National Unattached
Youth Programme, con-
tact your member of
parliament or council-
lor, call the
HEART/NTA office
nearest to you or con-
tact:
Mr Gresford Bennett
Project Manager
National Unattached
Youth Programme
Tel: 928-1301-2
WEWANTYOU!
HEART/NTA: