A construction training programme for at-risk youth from the Rose Town community in Kingston has been funded to the tune of $20 million by the Gore Family Foundation.

The programme, which was launched last week at Lee Gore Business Centre in St Andrew in collaboration with the Rose Town Foundation, will offer training and certification in several areas including masonry, carpentry, plumbing, electrical studies, garden design, painting, outdoor recreation and land management.

“Twenty young people between the ages of 16 and 24 will receive skills training, mentorship, personal development, and employment opportunities,” Christine Gore, director of Gore Family Foundation, told the Jamaica Observer.

The participants will have the opportunity to choose from a variety of focus areas throughout the course of the programme. The courses will be taught in a high-tech virtual learning environment designed specifically for the programme.

Executive director of Rose Town Foundation Ruth Jankee said the programme is aimed at providing opportunities for youth in the often volatile community who lack skills and academic qualification.

“A lot of the young people are apprentices, they go on a site and learn, but they haven’t really been trained. So we recognise that the combination of the practical skills with soft skills is really what will have a major impact on the young people. So learning about conflict resolution, for example, is one of the major issues for crime. Learning team work, learning customer service and other soft skills will go a far way in building resilience in these young people,” said Jankee.

Source: Jamaica Observer