Managing Director of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund (JSIF), Omar Sweeney (right) presents Claudette Garrick with a trophy for being the Top Performing Female, at the graduation ceremony for participants in the Alternative Livelihood Skills Development programme held at the Chinese Benevolent Association of Jamaica on Old Hope Road on October 26, 2017. (Photo: JIS)

KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) — More than 250 young people have received certification in various skill areas, having successfully completed training under the Alternative Livelihood Skills Development programme.

The programme is a component of the Jamaica Social Investment Fund’s (JSIF) US$42 million Integrated Community Development Project (ICDP).

Training for the graduates was facilitated through a number of entities namely the Pre-University School; Institute for Workforce Education and Development (IWED); Rakul Enterprise School of Education and Technology; Trench Town Polytechnic College; the University of the West Indies film project; and Internet Income Jamaica.

In his remarks at the graduation ceremony held at the Chinese Benevolent Association of Jamaica on Old Hope Road on Thursday, Managing Director of JSIF, Omar Sweeney, said young people across seven parishes benefited from the training.

These include 179 trained and certified Zika warriors and environmental warrens, who will be employed in communities as vector control aides, as well as assist in solid waste management efforts in various communities.

Meanwhile, for the pre-university School, which prepares students to enter tertiary institutions or the job market, Sweeney informed that 39 out of 41 participants graduated, with over 25 per cent finding work less than three months post training.

For the IWED, which offers certified courses in areas such as home management, customer service, landscaping, food handling, customer relations, office administration, housekeeping and hospitality, there was a 100 per cent completion rate with over 50 per cent of the participants now employed.

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