The St. Maarten Youth Development Program is now registering youngsters interested in following one of the upcoming courses. These courses are Front Desk Agent, PC Repair & Networking and Cook of which the preparatory programs for these courses are set to begin in September.
The St. Maarten Youth Development Program is part of the Education & Youth program project. It is a corporation program between the island government of St Maarten and the Dutch government and funded by USONA. The program is especially for youngsters between the ages of 16 and 24 years who were unable to finish secondary education. With this program youngsters obtain the basic qualifications needed to enter the job market at an assistant’s level or further their studies at the SBO/ASVE schools. The Youth Development Program is executed by the Department of Educational Research, Policy and Innovations (DERPI) of Island Government which forms part of the Sector Education, Youth, Culture and Sports.
The preparatory program is a three month phase in the program where the students focus on developing their social skills, computer skills and if needed English reading and writing skills. Students need to complete this phase of the program before being able to move on to their career courses that they have chosen. The main goal of the preparatory program is to provide the youngsters with not only the knowledge but the social skills needed to succeed in the workforce.
The Front Desk Agent and the Cook course will take 6 months to complete and will be taught by the Caribbean Institute for Social Education Foundation (CIFSEF). The PC Repair and Networking course will take one year to complete and will be taught by the Computer Institute of the Caribbean, directed by Daniel Berry. All courses include mandatory job training.
Registration for the above- mentioned courses will take place throughout the entire month of July. Interested persons are asked to please bear in mind that there are a limited amount of spaces available for these courses. All you need to register is a copy of your St. Maarten identification (I.D) card. Registration will be held at the Youth Development Program office upstairs of Carl and Son’s Bakery on the Pondfill Road in Philipsburg. The office is open Monday thru Friday from 8 am to 5 pm. For more information, you can contact Janelle Presentacion at 543-0497 or email her at sxm_ydp@hotmail.com.