YUTE reaping success
Published:Monday | May 23, 2011 | 12:00 AM
Keisha Hill, Gleaner Writer
WITH DATA showing that about 127,000 of the island's youth are unattached, Youth Upliftment Through Employment (YUTE) is pressing ahead to empower youths in some troubled communities.
The programme was designed to be a part of the solution to work with these young persons, especially in the inner-city communities, with the main focus of building technical and social skills and increasing employment and entrepreneurship opportunities for them.
The programme was also designed to be consistent with the national agenda as expressed first through the National 2030 Vision document, and more recently through the Planning Institute of Jamaica community renewal plan.
part of the solution
According to YUTE team leader Maureen Webber, members of the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) and leaders of other associations visited Tivoli Gardens a few weeks after the incursion in May 2010, and were struck by the number of young persons who revealed that they could not get jobs, and did not finish school.
"The membership then kept saying we must be a part of the solution. The president appointed a small committee, chaired by Keith Duncan, and in early July the team began to explore what was being done, what could the PSOJ and its members contribute to supporting change in our inner-city commu-nities," Webber said.
Recognising the necessary changes, YUTE attempts to provide a total solution in its programmes designed for young persons at risk, in particular unattached young persons. Non-Government Organi-sations (NGOs) and government agencies will work with the YUTE participant from entry through to job placement, ensuring that the young person is integrated into the social and economic fabric of the society.
"We are going to be rolling out a sustainable model, which is linked to an emerging approach, micro franchising; this is going to give our young persons opportunities working in enterprise clusters to start a business activity, and then the support and technical assistance to sustain it," she said.
Webber indicated that the YUTE's entrepreneurship stream is carefully designed to consider lessons from previous youth entrepreneurship programmes locally and overseas.
unique element
"One of the most unique elements of our programme is the Job Opportunity Bank (JOB), where members of the private sector are asked to make a deposit of an employment opportunity. On the other side of the programme working with existing NGOs, state agencies fund the preparation of young persons to prepare them to make a 'withdrawal' from the JOB," Webber said.
A critical input to ensure that the objectives of YUTE are met is to provide participants with mentors. So far, more than 350 persons have completed training and matching for some 120 of these mentors. YUTE needs a minimum of 1,000 mentors; however, they are anticipating more than 2,000 participants and, therefore, will need more.
So far, the feedback from the programme has been good, and Webber said they are encouraged to continue with the development process.
"When I see a young man agreeing to participate in a three-day pre-skills training programme over a six-month period, we call Learn & Earn to deal with critical foundation skills he needs to get if he is to go forward, to say HEART (Trust), we are already seeing impact. Or a young lady, with a baby in arm, coming to classes and saying this is her final chance, I am seeing impact," Webber said.
Persons wishing to volunteer to support the YUTE programme should call 920-6254 or register online at www.yute.org.