Oloamanu to tackle youth unemployment

By Ioana Tupa’i 13 December 2017, 12:00AM

The Oloamanu Centre will introduce a vocational programme next year to help address the increasing number of youth unemployment.

Director of Oloamanu Centre, Lineta Tamanikaiyaroi says the Oloamanu Center will offer a Preliminary Certificate for Vocational Education Training (P.V.E.T.). 

“The P.V.E.T. programme will provide training opportunities for youths who drop out of school at Year 10 level because of various reasons. They will undergo training in English, Mathematics and Computing studies,” she said. 

“It will be a one-year programme.

“If they pass all the three subjects, it allows them to enter vocational training institutions such as National University of Samoa Institute of Technology to study carpentry, engineering or their own choice.

“We all know that in the government strategy, everyone needs to have access to education. 

“We do believe a lot of job opportunities are mostly on vocational trainings and these people who are unemployed will have good chances to get a job once they pass the P.V.E.T. and graduate from Institute of Technology.”

Thirty students from Upolu and Savai’i will be pioneers of this programme.

However, to develop the programme to another level depends on the response from the first intake.

Oloamanu is also looking for partners to help fund the initiative.

Findings by the Ministry of Women and Social Development show that in 2012, youth unemployment was recorded at 16.4 percent and this year it has increased by 8.4 percent. 

The number of unemployed males is 14% and unemployed females is 20.2 percent

By Ioana Tupa’i 13 December 2017, 12:00AM
Samoa Observer

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