THE Public Employment Service Office (Peso)-Job Placement Bureau, together with the Department of Labor of Employment (DOLE), has opened under the JobStart Philippines Program 100 slots for life skills training for the out-of-school youths (OSYs) of Cagayan de Oro City.
JobStart Philippines is a program of DOLE and aims to prepare young Filipinos for employment by providing career coaching, life skills, technical training, and internships with employers.
The program is in collaboration with DOLE; Asian Development Bank; and the Government of Canada, the owner of the program.
Cagayan de Oro City, according to Peso Manager Kathleen Kate Sorilla, is one of the four local JobStart implementers in Mindanao and is on its fourth batch of OSYs.
The program adopted by the City Government of Cagayan de Oro City, specifically targets the city's out-of-school youth, of ages 18 to 24, who has zero to six months work experience and currently not in employment, not enrolled in school or in any training.
"We are calling their attention, sa mga tambays (to those out-of-school youths), to be a part of this JobStart. This is your chance to let the society know that you can be somebody starting from who you are right now, we can help you para (so that) later on magiging mas okay yung buhay niyo (your life will be better)," Sorilla said.
The Peso manager said the program consists of 10-day life skills training, wherein the trainees will be granted a P200 daily allowance and free snacks and meals; three-month technical training under the industry partners of the program, in which the grantees will be given P200 stipend; and three-month internship still under the same industries they went under technical training.
During the internship, the employers will be obliged to pay 75 percent of the minimum wage as stipend for the trainees, Sorilla said.
"After the OJT (on-the-job training), if their performance is good, the industry would directly hire them as regular employees," she added.
At present, Sorilla said they are still scouting for schools in Cagayan de Oro for the 10-day life skills training, adding that they are eyeing Lourdes College as the venue.