5,200 students to be employed under NYS Summer Programme

KINGSTON — A total of 5,200 young Jamaicans will be employed under the National Youth Service’s (NYS) annual National Summer Employment Programme (NSEP) to be carried out in two phases over the months of July and August.

“We have 1,560 places for tertiary or college students and we have 3,640 places for secondary students. There are two batches we have for the summer and each period is for three weeks, so the students get three weeks on the job,” the agency’s Acting Executive Director, Alan D. Beckford, told JIS News in a recent interview.

Mr. Beckford will be among the speakers at the official launch of the programme tomorrow (June 29) at the Assembly Hall of the University of the West Indies, Mona,

St. Andrew. Other presenters include Executive Director of Dunn, Pierre, Barnette and Associates Limited, Paulette Dunn-Smith; and a representative from the Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture.  

The main objective of the NSEP is to provide work experience opportunities for students age 15 to 24 years, so that they can become familiar with the “real working world,” Mr. Beckford said.

Participating students are required to submit their resumes, application letters as well as a five-year plan. They will receive advice in the preparation of these documents.

The Acting Executive Director informed that students will be required to participate in orientation sessions to be held across the island, which will prepare them to successfully complete the three-week placement.

“There is a training process before the students go. We give them a couple of days of training  and the skills that they are required to have on the job, so it is hoped that when the students finish school they will have some work experience,” he said.

Meanwhile, Mr. Beckford is imploring organisations and companies to participate in the programme by providing work for some of the young people.  

“We provide a stipend for the students, so the organisation is not required to give them payment. But we encourage organisations that would like to give the students something extra (to do so),” he urged.

He said companies that wish to take on students during the summer can contact the NYS head office at 6 Collins Green Avenue, Kingston 5.

The NSEP was instituted in 1993 as a means of providing employment throughout the summer months for inner-city youth, but has expanded to address the issue on a national scale. More than 45,000 participants have benefitted from the programme over the 18 years.

By E. HARTMAN RECKORD, JIS Information Officer