225 students participate in 8^th edition of Work Placement Programme 

GIS - July 19, 2010: Some 225 students from secondary and vocational institutions have embarked on the July/August 2010 Work Placement Programme. The Programme aims at bridging the gap between school and the world of work by exposing students to the realities of the work environment, during school vacations. Hence, 36 organisations, both from the public and private sectors, are offering on the job training, from 19 July to 6 August 2010, to students from some 50 different schools.

In his address at the inauguration of the 8^th edition of the Work Placement Programme this morning at the Mahatma Gandhi Institute, Moka, the Minister of Education and Human Resources, Dr Vasant Bunwaree, made an earnest appeal to students to make the most of the opportunity given to them. He urged them to take advantage of the experience to learn and hone skills, relate their school knowledge to the world of work and become the architects of their own education.

Dr Bunwaree also said that the ministry is looking into ways and means to extend the work placement programme to all students in a bid to create the specific formal link between the secondary schools and industry. He has had discussions with authorities of Cambridge on the introduction of components from the International Baccalaureate Programme into the Higher School Certificate Syllabus that would enable students to adapt to an ever-changing world and be prepared to join the labour market. The student’s performance during the work placement would be taken into account for the award of his school leaving certificate.

The Minister added that in line with the strategy of his ministry to offer broadened and flexible career guidance service to all, a “Centre d’Orientation Académique et Professionnelle”, a sort of career guidance unit, will be set up soon to help citizens to better manage their education, training and employment. Through the regular update of the National Human Resource Development Plan, relevant information about education, training and work will be made available to one and all, he said.

The Work Placement Programme is a project of the Human Resource Development Council implemented since August 2007 to reduce the mismatch between the demand for and supply of labour, to increase the employability of school leavers, to equip students with techniques and tools to cope with the work environment, in particular in the emerging sectors, as well as to enable them to take cognizance of the work culture, and provide them with information regarding their future career perspectives.

Since the inception of the Work Placement Programme in 2007, around 3,152 students have participated in the project. 230 enterprises and organisations have collaborated in enabling those students to consolidate their academic learning with practical work on-the-job.