All school leavers have options
Students who don’t move on to sixth form can get qualified through alternative government programmes
THE MINISTRY of Education is reporting that regardless of qualification, students leaving the secondary school system will be able to enroll in a programme that will enable them to improve their prospects for employment or further studies. Such programmes are tailored for those students who did not matriculate to sixth form or who chose not to attend sixth form.
Chief Education Officer at the Ministry of Education Dr Grace McLean says placement is possible through the Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment Programme (HOPE) and Learn, Earn, Give back through service and Save programme (LEGS), among others.
The HEART Trust/NTA is taking a lead role in the implementation of the various programmes, alongside such agencies as the National Youth Service (NYS) and the Career Advancement Programme (CAP). The available programmes include the HOPE Youth Summer Programme, the National Service Corps Programme, the School Leavers Training Opportunities Programme, also called SL-TOP, and the CAP for grades 12 and 13 students.
The recently introduced government initiative, HOPE, seeks to introduce a range of social-intervention programmes affecting the local community and the most vulnerable groups in the society, inclusive of the youth population. Both the HEART Trust/NTA and the NYS are taking lead roles in the implementation of the employment component of HOPE. To this end, HEART Trust says it’s aiming to add value while
empowering the youth by enhancing their prospects for job placement through employable and technical skills acquisition. Participants are, in large part, impacted through a strategy under HOPE which addresses their productive engagement to LEGS.