The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE Christie administration has budgeted $20m during the next fiscal year to address youth unemployment, Prime Minister Perry Christie said during his 2015/2016 Budget communication yesterday.

The money will be allocated under the Ministry of Finance where initiatives will be done in conjunction with Urban Renewal, he said.

He added that the government will launch an apprenticeship programme with the private sector, with a wage subsidy as an encouragement, to give young people employment. At face value, the scheme seems similar to the 52-week job plan launched by the Ingraham administration which paid and placed Bahamians, who were unsuccessful in finding jobs, in various positions at both private and government businesses. The employers then had the option to permanently hire the workers if they so desired.

However, the PLP heavily criticised this initiative and later cancelled it, with Prime Minister Perry Christie saying in 2012 that some people who were paid under the 52-week job plan did not show up for work.

According to the latest statistics, overall unemployment in the country stands at 15.7 per cent while youth employment is nearly double that number at 31 per cent.

Mr Christie said his government is committed to bringing this number down.

He did not specify what role Urban Renewal will play in the use of the $20m or how such funds will be used.

It is expected that Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald will elaborate on this when he makes his contribution during the budget debate.

Mr Christie also revealed that the government would establish a special school for youth who have behavioural issues which prevent them from gaining employment.

A facility for this purpose has been identified at the former Bahamas Academy on Wulff Road, Mr Christie said.

“Our nation presently faces a grave problem in terms of the proportion of our youth who remain unemployed,” he added. “Unfortunately, many of these young individuals lack the training and basic skills that are required to take advantage of the future employment opportunities that are expected to emerge as the economic recovery gathers steam and further strengthens. My government attaches a high priority to addressing this most critical public policy challenge, as a means to both increase the long-term employability of young persons and reduce incentives for criminal activity.

“Accordingly, in this budget we are proposing two new interventions in this area, for which the budget includes the allocation of $20m to which I referred earlier. We will, for one, establish a special school for young persons with behavioural issues that mitigate against their employability. It reinforces the government’s policy commitment that every child must count and none be left behind.

“We will also initiate an apprenticeship programme in partnership with the private sector under which employers will be incentivized, through a wage subsidy, to employ young persons in positions that will afford them the opportunity to acquire vital, basic job skills,” he added.

“The programme will strive to enhance the employability of participating youth through practical on-the-job training and learning by doing. In a similar vein… the government will continue to partner with the private sector in ventures that provide skills training and thereby augment the work of our own National Training Agency. This programme will be extended to those parts of The Bahamas where significant developments are taking place or planned.”