YIC and NYS Facilities to Be Constructed In Spanish Town and May Pen

Young person's will soon be able to access the services of Youth Information Centres (YIC) and National Youth Service (NYS) training facilities under one roof, when two such facilities are built in Spanish Town, St. Catherine, and May Pen, Clarendon.

This follows the signing of contracts for Rogers Land Development Limited to undertake the works, during a ceremony at the New Kingston offices of the Ministry of Youth and Culture, on January 19.

To be undertaken through funding from the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), construction, which is expected to commence in February 2012, is scheduled to be completed by January 2013.

Minister of Youth and Culture, Hon. Lisa Hanna, who participated in the signing, said the synergy between the entities is necessary and “symbolises the strategic view in terms of how we believe that youth need to move forward in terms of integrating the approaches of education training and multi-sectoral as well as extra-curricular/curricular development."

She said the establishment of the joint facilities would assist in arresting some of the issues that confront young people, such as lack of skills and qualifications, and most importantly crime, noting that 75 per cent of crime is being committed by persons under 30.

“Even though we are not at the point of YICs being in all parishes at this time, what is important to recognise, is that when we look at the statistics of where crime is rampant, particularly in the parishes (of) Clarendon, St. Catherine, St. James, Kingston and St. Andrew, and certainly parts of Manchester,  it is important that these two centres are actually put down on the ground in Spanish Town and in May Pen to now stem the tide, and where young people can go for training,” she said.

Minister Hanna noted that while she was pleased that the concept has now reached the construction phase, she argued that “block and steel will not assist if we don’t also put the programmes in place that are critical for making sure that we impact their (young people) development.”

In this regard, she pointed out that training, support, mentorship and  job placement are important in equipping especially,  the 70 per cent of the youth  population that is unskilled, and have acquired no subjects upon leaving high school, with the requisite tools to become employable.

She said that for those young persons who are unable to be absorbed within the private sector, they should be given incubator facilities to hone their entrepreneurial skills, so that they can create opportunities for themselves.

Stressing the importance of public and private sector partnerships in ensuring the sustainability of the centres, Miss Hanna pointed out that, “it is critical that as we do our budgets, going forward, that realistic recurrent expenditure budgets are done to maintain and sustain the viability of the centres."

The establishment of YICs in several parishes has been an ongoing initiative of the Government. They provide information on educational and training opportunities, entrepreneurial programmes and scholarships; organise workshops and outreach seminars; provide referral services for career guidance, personal development and counselling; and serve as a clearing house for information relating to youth.

The Minister said she wants to see the YICs, which started as a concept from 2005, rolled out in every parish.

Director, Community Services, NYS, Simone Smith-Parkin, told JIS News that the NYS and the YIC have collaborated to offer their various services from the same compound, as they share the similar objective of empowering youth.

She said that through the YICs, young persons will be able to get assistance with homework, as well as given career guidance by youth employment officers. Mrs. Smith-Parkin further noted that the NYS facilities will provide training for persons in the 17 to 24-year age group. After training, the NYS will provide the young persons with employment opportunities.

The initiative falls under the Government’s Youth Development Project, which aims to facilitate the transition of unattached youth to adulthood and the world of work through training, on-the-job experience, information dissemination and labour intermediation services.

By Alecia Smith-Edwards, JIS Reporter