Sun | May 12, 2024

JSIF spends $9 million to train unemployed youth

Published:Wednesday | July 11, 2018 | 12:15 PM
Graduates from the Jamaica Social Investment Fund’s (JSIF) Alternative Livelihood and Skills Development Programme, Kamau Brown (right) and Shanado Archer (second right), on Tuesday (July 10) at St. Joseph’s Teachers’ College in St Andrew, while (from left) Social Development Manager, Mona Sue-Ho; Chief Executive Officer, Manpower & Maintenance Services Limited, Audrey Hinchcliffe; and Coordinator, National Technical and Vocational Education and Training, Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Denworth Finnikin, offer words of encouragement.

The Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), in partnership with the Institute for Workforce Education and Development (IWED), has trained 62 unemployed persons in landscaping and facility maintenance at a cost of $9 million. 

The young persons, who are from needy communities in St Andrew, Kingston, and Clarendon, were each given certificates and starter kits on Tuesday during a graduation ceremony at St Joseph’s Teachers’ College in St Andrew.

They were trained as part of the Alternative Livelihood Skills Programme, which is a sub-project under JSIF’s $69-million Integrated Community Development Project, which delivers skills training for 400 youth between 17 and 29 years of age.

In her address, Social Development Manager at JSIF Mona Sue-Ho said the organisation is pleased to offer assistance through training and certification to aspiring landscapers and facility maintenance personnel.

“Last month, we were pleased to celebrate with the graduates from the St James area, and, today, we are here to celebrate another successful partnership between the Jamaica Social Investment Fund and the Institute for Workforce Education and Development,” she said.

“At JSIF, we strongly support meaningful partnerships, and we are, therefore, appreciative of the kind efforts of Manpower and Maintenance Services Limited – the parent company of IWED – which will be handing over 62 toolkits to the graduates valued at approximately US$6,500,” said Sue-Ho.

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