YEA recruits over 90,000 youth under various employment programmes — Malik Basintale

Chief Executive Officer of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA), Malik Basintale, has disclosed that his outfit has recruited more than 90,000 young people under various employment and skills development initiatives.

The beneficiaries have been engaged in areas including community medical services, fire service assistance, research, community policing and other public-sector support roles.

He made the disclosure at the maiden National Youth Forum held on Wednesday, August 19, under the auspices of the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment.

Basintale said the latest figures represented a significant expansion in the YEA’s efforts to provide employment opportunities for young people across the country.

“Today, I can proudly say we have recruited over 90,000,” he said.

According to him, the beneficiaries include 6,000 community medical service respondents, 6,000 fire service assistants, 5,000 research assistants and 12,000 community police assistants.

He added that 500 young people had also been engaged under the National Insurance Commission, while more than 8,000 others had secured employment through partnerships between the YEA and private firms.

Mr Basintale cited the case of one beneficiary who was initially recruited to work as a security officer at the Canadian Embassy but had subsequently transitioned into a language translator.

He said the YEA is also collaborating with the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat and the National Service Secretariat to introduce a new flagship programme known as the Graduates and Corporate Support Programme.

According to him, the programme is expected to be rolled out in the coming weeks to create additional opportunities for graduates to gain employment and work experience.

“We are partnering with the 24-Hour Economy Secretariat and the National Service Secretariat to implement one of our flagship programmes called the Graduates and Corporate Support, and in a few weeks’ time, Minister, we shall roll out that model,” he said.