85 youths get work skills through training schemes |28 November 2017
Eighty-five young people have received their certificates after going through a skills development programme aimed at boosting their chances of securing employment.
The employment training programmes, which consist of both soft skills and on the job training, focus on different areas of employment, notably where there is shortage of labour in the country for example in the tourism industry, construction among others.
Every year three million is spent on the skills development programme to ensure that the participants acquire the necessary soft skills before they are placed in an organisation.
They received their certificates last Thursday during a ceremony at the International Conference Centre Seychelles (ICCS) in the presence of the Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status Myriam Telemaque, the principal secretary (PS) for employment Jules Baker, the PS for youth and sports department Fabian Palmyre, the chief executive of the Agency for National Human Resource Development (ANHRD) Nadia Lauricourt, certificates recipients and parents along with other guests.
In his speech for the occasion, PS Baker said that such training is a learning process and is recognised to be very essential for the growth of the economy as well as increasing employment opportunities for job seekers.
“Youth unemployment remains one of the most challenging policy issues in the world today, because in many countries young people are still finding it difficult to secure a job and find one according to his or her own competencies and interest. The youth of Seychelles is also facing a similar challenge although we have recently observed an improvement regarding this situation. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, the youth unemployment was 16.8 per cent in 2014 and in the second quarter of 2017 youth unemployment decreased to 11.8 per cent,” he said.
He added that the government of Seychelles provides a lot so that the youths can have a better future.
“The progress made towards the position of the youths on the labour market today is due to various factors. The continued investment of the government of Seychelles in our youths, through various labour market policies and different schemes such as the skills development programme, has played a pivotal role. The participants are also provided with a training allowance, free bus and day care allowance to young mothers on the programme. This is an investment which increases the chances of participants remaining on the programme until the end and obtain the necessary skills and work experience for a future job,” he said.
Orely Mothé, a student who has successfully completed the programme, stated that the training scheme provided her with all the necessary skills to tackle each challenge in her path.
“Currently I am working as an office assistant at ANHRD, the training provided me with better communication skills, ITC skills which will enable me to have a better future. It also gave me the motivation to go back to school, and in the future have my own small business,” she said.
For the year 2016 to 2017, a total of 85 participants -- 28 boys and 57 girls -- completed their training. The majority of the participants were trained in hospitality and customer service.
During the ceremony all the partners also received a token of appreciation from Minister Telemaque.
Those partners such as Kempinski, Hilton, Savoy, Laxmanbhai, Seychelles Breweries, Ephelia, Le Méridien Fisherman’s Cove, Seychelles Postal Services, Abhaye Valabhji, Sunglower Daycare, Seychelles Tourism Board, Boat House and Seychelles Civil Aviation Authority, have all gone the extra mile to ensure that the scheme is a success and contributes towards the future of the nation.
The ceremony also saw a video presentation on the success stories of the trainees where they expressed their appreciation of the programme as well as their achievement.