Thirty-six youth graduated on Friday after completing a six-week ‘Work Readiness’ training course delivered by USAID through the Skye programme in Port Mourant, Berbice.
The graduates are between ages 15 and 24, the US Embassy said in a press release.
The Skye programme is part of the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative partnership between the United States and the Caribbean. Skye Work Readiness training transfers a set of basic employability skills, knowledge and behaviours that youth need to be successful as entry-level workers or entrepreneurs. It offers participants the chance to learn about themselves, to understand how to work as part of a team and to enhance their knowledge of the most important factors in finding and maintaining employment.
Work readiness training is one of several activities being conducted under the Skye programme which seeks to assist youth in finding and sustaining employment, the release said. The training draws on the experience and advice of local private sector employers who provided vital tips for success in employment, helping to guide the youth to better understand what businesses are looking for when selecting employees.
US Ambassador D Brent Hardt commended the participants in enhancing their marketability and equipping themselves with skills that will allow them to succeed both in the workplace and in life. He reminded them that the technical skills they learned are also crucial life skills which would allow them to “pursue their path in life with greater self-confidence.”
He noted that employers would value a strong work ethic; punctuality and personal integrity which the Skye programme sought to develop and strengthen.
According to the release, many of the 400 youth throughout regions Four, Six, Nine and Ten who are participating in the USAID/Skye project have been challenged to find employment because they either did not graduate from secondary school, did not have opportunities to develop the interpersonal skills necessary for finding and maintaining employment or were involved with the juvenile justice system. Those that have completed the training have demonstrated that they have the determination to make a change in their lives and are seeking new ways to achieve their ambitions for the future. Skye will continue to assist these young men and women along the path to gaining and sustaining employment by seeking to match them with jobs.
The Skye project partner – Youth Challenge International (Guyana) – implemented the six-week programme.
