Mary Joseph is a twenty-five (25) year old mother of two from St Lucia who was happy to leave her job as a lowly paid security guard to become a trained and certified worker in the hospitality industry. Mary always dreamt of working in a hotel but was never sure that the opportunity would come.
Mary is one of over 6,000 young people in the Windward islands that are benefitting from UKaid from the British government under the Skills for Youth Employment (SkYE) programme in the Caribbean region.
BECOMING CERTIFIED
When Mary learnt from a friend that an opportunity existed to train and become certified with Springboard Training at Gros Islet, she immediately applied and left her job once she received an acceptance to the programme. As a Security Guard, she had to overcome countless instances of sexual harassment which made her very unhappy and uncomfortable in the job.
Mary is ecstatic about her opportunity in this SkYE funded training programme and she has many praises for the team that provided the training, which she says has empowered her and made it possible for her to function in “a fancy hotel”. She conveyed that “The facilitator made learning very easy and fun and because of that I learnt a lot of new things which is required for the hotel industry. Providing good customer service was a very big part of our training and the facilitator stressed it and made us aware of its importance. I also learnt interview skills during my training, how to present myself and to behave at the interview”.
After two weeks on her job training stint, Mary was given the opportunity to function as a hostess because of her great demeanour and her excellent customer service skills. Mary praised the SkYE programme for this opportunity.
GATEWAY TO OPPORTUNITIES
Mary believes this opportunity has equipped her to better support her children. It has exposed her and allowed her to become skilled. She will receive a Level 2 award from the UK accredited Vocational Training Charitable Trust Award in Hospitality Industry Skills on completion of her on-the-job training. Mary aspires to seek employment on a cruise ship and says this training opportunity will provide her passport to working as a resident supervisor in the hotel industry first and then the opportunity to work within the cruise sector.
The UK government’s support will allow thousands of youth of the region to have a second chance at certification. A significant number of young persons leave secondary school without the requisite subject passes and have not been able to secure employment. Those accepted on the programme will each receive training to become skilled and achieve an internationally recognised certificate, which will allow them a better opportunity to become gainfully employed, thus increasing their ability to support themselves and their families. Most of the beneficiaries currently engaged in training have been unemployed and see this as a chance at a better life for their family.
FACTS
The Skills for Youth Employment (SkYE) is a four year, UKaid-funded programme to provide certified skills training for 6,000 disadvantaged young people, including those challenged by disability, in four Eastern Caribbean countries: Dominica, Grenada, St Lucia and St Vincent & the Grenadines. The Programme will develop a more productive and inclusive workforce in sectors with good economic growth potential.
SkYE is supporting national training authorities and training providers to make systemic improvements to the development, delivery and quality assurance of technical, vocational education and training (TVET) in the four focus islands through targeted capacity building.
