NYS to Roll Out New Programmes

Minister of Youth and Culture, Hon. Lisa Hanna, says that the National Youth Service (NYS) will be rolling out new strategies and programmes in the 2013/2014 financial year.

The aim, she said, is to effectively meet the needs of the youth cohort. Some 12,000 young people will be targeted under the various initiatives.

“We believe that our young people need more than what we are giving them through the National Youth Service and that there are a number of different target groups in our youth population that we were not meeting. It is not about summer employment anymore, it really is about community outreach, voluntarism, on-the-job training, skills training etcetera,” Ms. Hanna stated.

She was addressing an orientation session for participants in the NYS Summer Employment Programme held on Tuesday, July 2, at the VH Percy Centre, Osbourne Road in Kingston.

The new NYS initiatives include a college graduate internship programme, residential summer camps, and training programmes with shorter curricula.

Ms. Hanna stressed that the Government is committed to making sure that greater emphasis is placed on youth development, despite the country’s financial constraints.

Some 4,000 young people will gain valuable work experience under the NYS Summer Employment Programme.

The Government has allocated $57 million to the programme this year, which targets secondary and tertiary level students, age 17 to 24 years.

Contact: Chris Patterson