MARIGOT–Parents are faced with the same dilemma every year in the summer: how to keep their children occupied during the summer holidays, other than taking part in leisure activities or going to the beach. The Collectivité fortunately provides the youth with the opportunity to take temporary summer jobs where they get a taste of working life.
These include programmes initiated by Jeunesse et des Sports de la Collectivité, “Lend A Hand”, Vacation Employment, Ticket Sport, and Le Stylo d’Août, which allow young people to work and earn money.
The “Lend a Hand” programme for almost 10 years now has helped young people ages 18-30 who are no longer students but not employed, by offering them jobs for two months during the summer with local businesses.
Organised as an internship and part of a professional training programme, “Lend A Hand” has 200 young people enrolled and experiencing total immersion in the business world, for a total of 20 hours per week during either July or August. There are 51 businesses taking part that integrate these young workers into their staffs for two months during the summer.
Registered with the employment office, these young interns receive payment of 600 euros for the month, of which 100 euros is paid by the participating business and the other 500 euros by the Collectivité. The idea is to get young people used to a working environment through a fixed schedule, reporting to a boss, and making them aware of their value and potential.
Quite often, young workers who prove their skills and their motivation are offered more permanent jobs at the end of the “Lend A Hand” programme. The cost of the “Lend A Hand” operation to the Collectivité for 2019 is 130,000 euros. In addition, for more than 20 years there has been the opportunity for youth ages 17-25 to work during the summer months in one of the services of the Collectivité, the Caisse Territoriale des Œuvres Scolaires (CTOS), or for short-term summer projects such as Ticket Sport and Le Stylo d’Août.
At the Collectivité, the youth are immersed in the workings of the territorial administration and an effort is made to make them as interested as possible in the tasks they are given. With Ticket Sport, the young people recruited for vacation employment are part of the staff working with children who are part of the programme. The older children help take care of the younger ones during excursions and sports activities.
Those in the vacation employment programme can also take part in helping with extra-curricular activities organised by the CTOS, or help with homework and summer revisions for younger students before the start of the next school year as part of Le Stylo d’Août programme. This is a good way for those 17-25 years to confront the working world, learn the usefulness they can have in society and show responsibility for the younger children.
This year, approximately 150 young people were selected after applying online. Each receives a monthly sum of 600 euros, financed 85 per cent by the European Social Funds (ESF) and 15 per cent by the Collectivité.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/89943-summer-job-programmes-keep-youth-occupied-during-holidays
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