Second chance for school drop-outs |22 May 2017

Just because your child dropped out of school doesn’t mean his/her life is over. In fact many school drop-outs are eventually able to bounce back and find a job.

Recently a group of school drop-outs attended a three-week training, organised by the Ministry of Employment under the training scheme in partnership with Job Plus Seychelles (JPS).

Aged 15 to 24, the students are finding it difficult to secure permanent employment based on their lack of qualification and experience and such training will improve their chances of getting employed.

The students were working for free in different work places such as the Seychelles Trading Company (STC) fruit and vegetable area, Paradis des Enfants and the Phoenix Souvenir Shop at Camion Hall, among other places.

The facilitator of this training and also the owner of JPS, Wendy Didon, stated that such training will allow the students to gain the necessary skills for them to secure employment.

“This training is for students who dropped out of school in secondary or post-secondary. The government has realised that a lot of students are dropping out of school and finding it difficult to find a job due to lack of skills. So we decided to provide them with on the job training in different work areas, and teach them how to be more confident while seeking for employment,” she said.

Eiliza Alcindor, only 17 years old and currently working at the Constance Ephelia Resort (CER) in the kitchen department, is also undergoing the training.

When Seychelles NATION caught up with her, she was undergoing her training at the Phoenix Souvenir Shop at Camion Hall owned by Meggie Jeanne.

“The training scheme will allow us to better understand the employment industry, how to behave, how to interact with customers. At first I was working at the CER in the cold kitchen department. Since I’ve embarked on the training, I have been able to enhance my knowledge which will help me in any job that I will land in the future,” she said.