More training and job opportunities for youth

Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith says Government is seeking to expand training and employment opportunities for young people.

Delivering remarks at the opening ceremony of the Diverse Get Hired Employability Initiative at the Hilton Barbados Resort on Friday, Minister Griffith said since 2016, 170 persons have been trained through the Get Hired programme but that number needs to be increased. Forty young persons were enrolled in the 2022 edition of the programme.

“We will see how best we can have satellite locations across the country. As long as we can find those facilitators that can do the job that we require them to do, then we would expand this programme. “We have community centres within the country that, in my opinion, we need to fully utilise. So, we will find the necessary satellite locations to expand this programme because we see you as our human currency. We must invest and we need to ensure that at the end of the day, when we go to that bank of youth inside the country, that we are getting absolute value in terms of what we would have achieved,” Griffith said.

Get Hired is an initiative of the Ministry of Youth in partnership with the Prince’s Trust International and is geared towards persons ages 18 to 25.

The programme is a way to bridge the gap between businesses looking for a low-cost, time-efficient recruitment process and young people who are ready to move into work but are struggling to get the right opportunities.

Minister Griffith expressed gratitude to those businesses that provided resources to make this year’s Get Hired programme possible. He issued a reminder that it is impossible for Government to find employment for all school leavers, and this is why there is a need to create partnerships with corporate Barbados and other organisations such as Prince’s Trust International.

Minister Griffith also urged the young participants to remain focused and committed to training and employment opportunities that have been provided through the initiative.

“And if we can see all that is good within the youth, then we can look to be developed in a way that was not seen before. There are a couple of persons who would try to use a [broad] brush to say that young people in this country are not valued. I want to separate myself from that because I am cognisant of what you can achieve if you are provided with an opportunity,” he said.

“I give you my word that my Ministry will continue to be proactive in how we deliver youth work in this country. You will see it through the other initiatives that will come from my ministry in terms of targeting young people and making sure that at the end of the day, you will walk strong as part of a Government that does care and a Ministry that is looking forward to your well-being,” Griffith added.

The Ministry’s youth programmes include the Barbados Youth Advanced Corp, Youth Development Programmes, Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme, Pathways, Prince’s Trust Get Hired, and Next Step Training Initiative. (AH)