Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter
SOME 4,500 secondary and tertiary level students islandwide will benefit from the national summer employment programme this year, following a $46 million injection from the Government, according to Rev. Adinhair Jones, executive director of the National Youth Service (NYS).
Rev. Jones said the pro-gramme is being run in two phases: one beginning next week and the other in August.
LITERACY PROGRAMME
He noted that a large number of the students would be supporting the Ministry of Education and Youth summer literacy programme, while others would be working in the public and private sector.
Since the programme was established in 2001, under the directive of Prime Minister P.J. Patterson, more than 20,000 young persons have benefited with the Government expending some $170 million up to 2004.
Meanwhile, Rev. Jones said that at the end of this year's programme, the NYS would be analysing the summer employ-ment programme to determine how it has impacted beneficiaries, since its inception.
POSITIVE FEEDBACK
He told The Gleaner on Monday that the NYS had received positive feedback from parents and students.
For the students, he said, it was an exposure to the world of work, and parents are usually happy that their children are occupied during the holidays.
Rev. Jones is appealing to the private sector to join the NYS 'match one scheme'.
He explained that this is where the private sector would pay for one student during the summer employment programme, while the Government pays for the other student.
Secondary level students are expected to get a salary of $2,500 per week this year, while students at the tertiary level are to get $3,000 per week.
