The Tribune

THE Citizens Security and Justice Programme has officially started, enrollment to its Job Corps training initiative that offers free courses for young Bahamians in up to four disciplines.

With the sessions set to begin in the first quarter of 2020, the CSJP is encouraging anyone eligible to register for the courses, which include soft skills training, technical trades, hospitality and retail and numeracy and literacy.

“Under our CSJP Component 2, we focus on improving youth employability, employment prospects by strengthening and developing critical skill sets,” said CSJP monitoring and evaluations specialist Arvis Mortimer, who works closely with the Job Corps. “This training is open to any young person who is in need of a second chance. So, that is a young person who may not have been successful in high school, who didn’t finish high school or left with only a leaving certificate. This is a great opportunity for youth to improve their lives because they will be better equipped for the world of work – whether that’s obtaining a job upon completion or becoming an entrepreneur.

“Our programme seeks to provide much needed, comprehensive, and data-supported training.”

The Job Corps training is open to Bahamians and legal residents who may be unemployed, between the ages 15 to 29 years old, left high school with less than a diploma or fewer than five BGCSEs.

The training courses will be facilitated by participating vendors that specialise in the designated discipline. Presently, there are three ways interested people can enroll in the training, including going to the Department of Labour directly to sign up, logging on to the jobseekers.bahamas.gov.bs website from any smart phone or computer device and inputting required information. Interested applicants can also come out to one of the CSJP’s mobile enrollment sessions throughout New Providence.

The CSJP has mobile enrollment sessions coming up over the next several weeks in the Kemp Road area as well as in Mt Moriah and Nassau Village. Team members will be in place to personally walk applicants through the process of signing up on the website and creating a profile for tracking of information.

Victoria Major, a recent enrollee into the upcoming job training sessions, said she is already sensing an upwards shift in the trajectory of her life.

“I feel that there is hope and that I’m actually getting somewhere in life right now,” said the 19-year-old. “It’s good because I know I have some type of support and somewhere I can go and we need more programmes like that.

“I feel like my future is more secure.”

For more information on the CSJP training and other initiatives, the public is asked to follow the social media accounts for frequent updates.

The Citizen Security and Justice Programme is one of the country’s leading social programmes that aims to reduce crime and violence with a multi-faceted approach targeting youth and community development, employment and employability, strengthening the justice system and prison reform. The CSJP is funded by a loan facility from the Inter-American Development Bank to the government and is executed under the Ministry of National Security.