NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Labour Director Robert Farquharson said yesterday that the department will soon direct its Labour on the Blocks initiative towards high school leavers.
Farquharson told Eyewitness News that one of the biggest complaints from employers is that too many of them are not prepared to enter the workforce.
He underscored the Labour on the Blocks initiative, which restarted in May, has assisted more than 1,500 persons in securing employment this year.
“Employers have been very receptive to the initiative. We had a job fair two weeks ago where Osprey Construction was able to identify some 100 persons to work on a project that they have. We have other events coming up where we will be connecting employers with potential hires and also connecting with the University of The Bahamas, BTVI and the National Training Agency,” said Farquharson.
He added, “Right now we are finalising plans to have Labour on the Blocks also focus on high school students, particularly those in the 10th, 11th and 12th grades.
“We are going to be identifying high school students who may not be in the position to take BGCSEs or go to a tertiary institution. We are going to be directing them towards speciality training at BTVI and the National Training Agency. For those pursuing tertiary education, we will be working with the University of The Bahamas and other tertiary-level institutions to get them prepared. For those who want to go straight to the workforce, we will be training them on how to prepare for a job interview and the labour market. We should be making a public announcement on the initiative very soon,” Farquharson said.
The Labour Director noted that high school leavers being unprepared for the workforce was one of the biggest complaints from employers.
“We have so many people who are not prepared for the labour market. We want to help prepare them to be trained and certified so that by the time they come out of school they will be better prepared to enter the labour market. One of the biggest complaints from employers is that many persons graduating high school are not prepared for the labour market. We cannot wait until they are ready to leave high school to start preparing them,” said Farquharson.
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