AROUND 31 per cent of the popular have never been to school and are classified illiterate, while 69 have received some form of education in elementary, primary and secondary school or tertiary institutions. This is according to the 2011 data from the National Statistics Office. And because of the high rate of unemployment in the country, the Credit Corporation through its partnership with Yumi Project Inc came up with an initiative to prepare young people for job-seeking. Credit Corporation chief executive officer Danny Robinson said the target was young people who had completed Grade 12 and had furthered their study, or were staying at home while looking for jobs. “Through Project Wok, (we) prepare over 450 Grade 12 students from secondary schools around Port Moresby with the ability needed to help make their transition from school into the workforce,” he said. Robinson facilitated the training to 35 Grade 12 school leavers at Kouba Primary School outside Port Moresby last month.
The programme comprised four-module targeting job readiness stages: resumé writing, job search strategies, interview skills training and financial literacy. “We also run additional budget and finance training to encourage the participants (to take up) the culture of savings when they start working,” he said. The training will run for 12 months targeting five schools with 450 students. “Last November, we ran a training for 29 students (out of which) nine successfully secured jobs,” Robinson said. Erica Vagi, 28, from Rigo in Central, was one of the 35 who attended the programme at Kouba Primary School last month. It taught Vagi how to write a new resume or curriculum vitae (CV) after she had left her job in 2019. “I have learnt many new things and I will apply it in my CV and apply for (another) job,” she said. Vagi said the training was for free. “I am a mum now with responsibility and the training that I got from Project Yumi can help me create an attractive CV when I apply for a job. “I cannot afford to go back to school to learn all these skills and this (training) was free. “I was listening attentively throughout the session and picked up so many important points. “I also learnt that nothing in this world is free. “I will use the skills acquired at training to teach others in the community on how to apply for a job.” Robinson said that Credit Corporation provided the funding for Project Yumi to ensure that the trainings in schools were implemented effectively. “We encourage our staff to support the programme as volunteers, mentors and facilitators, (providing) assistance in community engagements based on their area of specialty,” he said. Robinson said the initiative was to help those who could not further their studies due to financial constraints. They found out that the project was a success after a two-week structured work experience programme for 24 graduates from December 2022 to January 2023. “The IEA College of Tafe Ela Beach campus, the facility sponsors, supported us with the assistance from the Port Moresby chamber of commerce and industry which encourages its members to become facilitators and mentors of the programme,” he said. Credit Corporation staff in Mt Hagen, Lae and Kokopo who have heard about the initiative and partnership with Project Yumi wanted it to be conducted in their provinces also. “We have planned to extend the programme to other provinces but we have to complete the trainings in all the targeted schools in the National Capital District (NCD) first before we can move to other provinces,” he said. Robinson urged young people who have completed grades 10 and 12 and are at home doing nothing to reach out to them so that they can be assisted with materials that they can learn at their own pace. “We also provide brochures and learning materials like A4 papers and markers to youths to use to help themselves and create a plan on how to write a resume, how to plan a budget when they have a job and how to save up in times of emergency,” he added. The National / PNG Education New Also read Comments are closed.
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