YTEPP celebrates graduates today

The Youth Training and Employment Partnership Programme (YTEPP), located at 11 St Clair Avenue, Port-of-Spain and offering quality training for 22 years, was established under the guidance of its current chairman Jennifer Johnson, the then minister responsible for Youth, Culture and Sports.

“The aim was to empower those young people who were not academically inclined and as such found themselves unemployed with no skills to fall back on and only a bleak future ahead,” she said.

CEO Nigel Stephen Forgenie says YTEPP has evolved at the most successful provider of technical/vocational training for young people between the ages of 15 and 25.

“When YTEPP was established in 1988, it had as its target group ‘at-risk youth’ and was deemed as an intervention for training ‘unemployable youth,’ giving them a skill and at the same time, creating a skills bank from which employers could recruit. That has been done with relative success, with YTEPP establishing 25 training centres throughout Trinidad and Tobago,” he said.

A very proud Zorina Spicer, who is YTEPP’s manager public affairs, says 154,441 young people have been trained approximately in 12 skill areas.

“One of the areas where annual success is achieved at Monica Headley’s Health and Beauty Trade Show, is Beauty Culture (hairdressing, cosmetology, beauty therapy and make up artistry).

Our students have successfully participated for eight years, Hopefully we will find sponsors who will help send them abroad to take part in the larger shows,” she said.

For the past two years, Sacha Cosmetics has partnered with the show to give trainees an opportunity to display their skills in make-up artistry. This year the Sacha Make Up Artist Bridal theme was “I do.”

Khadine Knights of YTEPP St Joseph placed first, Candice Roopchand of YTEPP Princes Town placed third, Joel Barcley of the YTEPP Chaguanas Training Academy, the only male entrant in this category, received a special prize, and is now employed with Sacha..

Barcley made the gown for his YTEPP model Chrystal Collingwood. The second prize in this category was won by CCC’s Nakassa Thatcher.

In the Fantasy 2010 section Servol’s Melissa James was first, YTEPP Tobago’s Cherry Ann Dennis placed second and third was Sharnelle Elder also from YTEPP.

In the Upsweep category, YTEPP’s Cassandra Lopez and Keisha Morris copped the top two places while CCC’S Anarcha Oliver was third.

“They are judged by foreign and local professionals in the field.

YTEPP shows that their teaching is at a high degree in these skills. because their trainees get employment immediately and are absorbed into the industry after leaving YTEPP.

It is an absolutely important aspect of the training because it allows the trainees external exposure and to use their skills to see where they fit in,” said Headley.

When YTEPP holds its Graduation (Cycles 33&34) Ceremony today at the Centre of Excellence in Macoya, from 2 pm, Oscar Francois Ltd will honour the winners from the 2010 Show with gift hampers of hair products in acknowledgment of their high quality work; and Sacha will recognise winners in the make-up artistry competition.

Some of the other corporate awards, says Spicer, include Repsol energy company which sponsored the best business plan for the year award to the top three persons in YTEPP’s in- house programme; Power Gen for five trainees in welding and fabricating courses and Interchem will give complete welding sets to the best trainee in the certified welding fabricating class.

In addition, he said, BG TT has partnered with YTEPP for the past three years in computer training in various communities in southeast Trinidad, generously providing/maintaining a mobile Computer Training Unit outfitted with computers.

“Today this unit has trained 500 persons in computer literacy with software provided by Microsoft Trinidad & Tobago,” he said.