Social Cohesion Minister urges youths to utilise skills, become entrepreneurs

…as 96 graduate from skills training programme

Ninety-six persons graduated with honours on Tuesday from the 2019 youth entrepreneurial skills training programme coordinated by the Ministry of the Presidency, Department of Social Cohesion, Culture, Youth and Sport.
As more expertise will be added into the country’s workforce in areas such as catering, masonry, plumbing among others, the graduating youths were urged to use the newly acquired skills to start their own businesses.
This charge was made by Social Cohesion, Culture, Youth and Sport Minister, George Norton, who noted that the entrepreneurial component of the programme was specifically designed to promote self-employment among youths.
“The entrepreneurship component of this programme was strategically crafted to enable you not only to become employable in your field but improve you to start your own business and that I want you to take seriously,” the Minister stated.
Adding to this, Minister Norton urged the graduates to further develop the skills learnt in order to pave the way for a better future and opportunities.
“Ninety-six of you have made it, and I want the country out there, the society out there to know that we have ninety-six youths who have turned a new leaf in their lives and are out there to make a positive impact…It is my hope, that when you leave here today (Tuesday) you do all that is necessary to develop your trade and continuously upgrade your skills so that you may have a better future,” he underscored.
Meanwhile, on the sidelines, this publication spoke to the valedictorian of the programme, 17-year-old Isaiah Knights, who explained that he encountered some challenges during the training course in plumbing, but said that a lot was learnt.
“You learn a lot from the Sophia Training Centre and my experience there was challenges because for a first comer I didn’t know anybody there but after I made friends and got comfortable with the class well then everything began to fall into place…I always saw youths home doing nothing, and I said I don’t want to be like that cause I came out of school last year and I wasn’t doing anything so I decided to come out and do this course,” Knights said.
A similar level of enthusiasm was expressed by 18-year-old Daniesha Jonas, as she was the only female who graduated from the programme’s plumbing course.
The programme had commenced in February of this year at the Sophia Training Centre, and included both technical and vocational courses for youths between the ages of 16 and 25, specifically those who did not complete their secondary education.