YPTP better prepares young people for work

The Youth Pre-employment Training Programme(YPTP) has received continual support from training bodies, employers, parents and the community since its inception. With their concerted efforts, the trainees can contribute to the society by developing their potentials.

Speaking at the YPTP graduation ceremony in Police Training School (PTS) today (November 8), the Commissioner for Labour, Mrs Pamela Tan Kam Mi-wah, noted that inspite of the current economic situation, many employers were still eager to nurture young talents by offering them training places and vacancies.

"Youngsters must treasure every opportunity to learn. They should brave all challenges and never give up." Mrs Tan said when encouraging the trainees.

"The Labour Department will continue to offer help. Apart from arranging workplace attachment for YPTP trainees, we will also refer suitable trainees to the Youth Work Experience and Training Scheme. Our job centres will provide free employment service to youngsters," she said.

The trainees graduated today received a two-week rigorous disciplinary training in the PTS. The training not only strengthened their physique, but also helped improve their perseverance, endurance, self-discipline and team spirit. They will later attend other YPTP courses to further equip themselves for the labour market.

There were 80 trainees graduated today. Twelve of them were awarded prizes and certificates to commend their outstanding performance during training.

Various new skills training courses have been introduced in this year's programme to provide more options to participants and to meet market needs. Career counseling and support services provided by case managers have also strengthened.

The programme this year is launched in two phases, with phase one commencing in September. Applications for phase two will begin in January next year.

A one-month workplace attachment is available for trainees upon completion of modular training. The department is now vigorously promoting the programme to employers in order to seek more workplace attachment opportunities for trainees.

The YPTP was launched in September 1999 to provide pre-employment training for school leavers aged between 15 and 19. In the past 3 years, over 35,000 youngsters received training under the programme.