By Kefiloe Kajane
The Youth Apprenticeship Programme manager Folojeng Folojeng this week told theReporter that the programme has not yet started its second intake of prospective youth.
He said the letter that has been circulating suggesting that the progammne is registering was a communication between the principal secretary of finance and principal secretary of local government and chieftaincy which was not supposed to have been for public consumption.
He explained that they have not started registration as the letter was just a communication between the two principal secretaries for future preparations.
The letter that has been circulating was titled ‘Registration Under the Youth Apprenticeship and Public Works Programme’.
“Your good office will recall that in an effort to fight high youth unemployment, the government implemented the Youth Apprenticeship and Public Works Programme in 2019/2020 with objectives to assist the youth to acquire the necessary skills they can utilise in the future to apply for jobs or even self-employ where possible. To provide some income stability for the youth during the period of the apprenticeship and the public works programme.
“To reduce the high unemployment rate (short term). To provide additional resources and skills to ministries, entities and businesses. To also built and rehabilitate community assets. To initiate the programme, the youth have to be between the ages of 8-45 in the financial years 2019/2020 and 2020/2021. The ministry of finance would like to pass its gratitude for the support and collaboration received and for allowing us to utilize the ministry’s premises as registration points.
“It has however come to our realization that there are multitudes who did not register with the programme, for various reasons and that, youth continue to graduate in to the stipulated categories that make them eligible to participate in the programme. As a result, the ministry of finance has advised to have a continuous registration. Please accept the communication as a request to your ministry to host us across all community councils for the continuous registration, which through your approval we would like it commences from July 5 2021,” the letter read.
The Apprenticeship Programme was established by government in 2019 and was aimed at combating the high rate of unemployment amongst the youth. It takes in youth that have tertiary qualifications and those that hold high school qualifications. The term of the current youth in the programme is expected to end in 2022 as it takes two years.
