ST. GEORGE’S, Grenada-THE World Bank has approved a line of US $3 million, zero-interest credit for Grenada to provide private-sector skills training for youths of the country.
According to a release from World Bank, the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS) Skills for Inclusive Growth Project “will improve the knowledge and skills of beneficiaries to help youth transition to the labour market”.
“The project will contribute to the competitiveness of the Grenadian economy by focusing on skills demanded by the private sector,” Yvonne Tsikata, World Bank Director for the Caribbean, said. “By focusing on youth, the project will also address the wider challenge of youth unemployment, underemployment, and youth-related crime.”
The initiative is designed to target three specific areas of development for boosting youth labour skills: increasing training, developing improved methods for delivering training and strengthen national agencies that monitor training programmes.
The Skills for Inclusive Growth Project is estimated to target nearly 1200 unemployed youths between the ages of eighteen and thirty for “placement in traineeships with public/private firms to gain on-the-job experience”.
In addition to direct training of those involved in the programme, guidelines are expected to be put in place for Grenadian workers to have an easier time transferring their skills throughout the Caribbean.
“As part of its activities, the project supports the adoption of a regionally accepted competency-based standards framework for vocational education and training known… which will facilitate the professional mobility of trained workers to neighboring countries,” Project Manager Angela Demas said.
Grenada News