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YEP off to a fast start - Potential beneficiaries lean towards IT
Published: Friday | May 15, 2009
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
Computer-related projects have dominated the initial list of applications under the recently launched Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (YEP).
While no numbers have been released, Jamaica House officials yesterday told The Gleaner that several applicants have indicated a desire to start businesses in information technology.
The information from Jamaica House confirmed a similar claim by Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
"People want to set up [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Internet[/COLOR][/COLOR] cafés in their townships and in their communities," Golding told journalists at the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing.
"I believe they have actually set dates for the first set of training seminars that are to be held. We were just waiting until the kids were finished with their exams to get going on that," the prime minister added.
YEP is a $250-million loan programme, which is part of a $2.25-billion fillip to the small-business sector announced by Golding during his presentation in the just-concluded Budget Debate.
Ideas welcome
Under YEP, students scheduled to graduate in June are invited to submit ideas about the kinds of enterprise they wish to start.
Those ideas are to be evaluated by the micro-lending institution, after which students are selected for participation.
However, before they receive any of the funds, the graduates will be required to attend training seminars across the island to help them manage their businesses.
News that information technology has emerged as a very attractive option for school leavers has come as no surprise, as an informal Gleaner survey immediately showed that this was one area many found attractive.
"I live in Hanover where a lot of young persons do not have access to the Internet but during the exam period, a lot of students need to use computers and the Internet. So, if I am allowed to benefit from this programme, I would open an Internet café," Roydel Moncrieffe, an 18-year-old student of Rusea's High School had said to The Gleaner. "To have such an opportunity to do my own small business would be a great blessing because my skill area at school is electrical installation but I love servicing computers. My school and community have given me an opportunity to repair their computers, so I believe that with that experience, I would be competent to run my own computer repair shop," was the response from Alando Allen, a 16-year-old from Anchovy High School.
Published: Friday | May 15, 2009
Arthur Hall, Senior Staff Reporter
Computer-related projects have dominated the initial list of applications under the recently launched Youth Entrepreneurship Programme (YEP).
While no numbers have been released, Jamaica House officials yesterday told The Gleaner that several applicants have indicated a desire to start businesses in information technology.
The information from Jamaica House confirmed a similar claim by Prime Minister Bruce Golding.
"People want to set up [COLOR=orange! important][COLOR=orange! important]Internet[/COLOR][/COLOR] cafés in their townships and in their communities," Golding told journalists at the weekly post-Cabinet media briefing.
"I believe they have actually set dates for the first set of training seminars that are to be held. We were just waiting until the kids were finished with their exams to get going on that," the prime minister added.
YEP is a $250-million loan programme, which is part of a $2.25-billion fillip to the small-business sector announced by Golding during his presentation in the just-concluded Budget Debate.
Ideas welcome
Under YEP, students scheduled to graduate in June are invited to submit ideas about the kinds of enterprise they wish to start.
Those ideas are to be evaluated by the micro-lending institution, after which students are selected for participation.
However, before they receive any of the funds, the graduates will be required to attend training seminars across the island to help them manage their businesses.
News that information technology has emerged as a very attractive option for school leavers has come as no surprise, as an informal Gleaner survey immediately showed that this was one area many found attractive.
"I live in Hanover where a lot of young persons do not have access to the Internet but during the exam period, a lot of students need to use computers and the Internet. So, if I am allowed to benefit from this programme, I would open an Internet café," Roydel Moncrieffe, an 18-year-old student of Rusea's High School had said to The Gleaner. "To have such an opportunity to do my own small business would be a great blessing because my skill area at school is electrical installation but I love servicing computers. My school and community have given me an opportunity to repair their computers, so I believe that with that experience, I would be competent to run my own computer repair shop," was the response from Alando Allen, a 16-year-old from Anchovy High School.