BAHAMAS: Ministry of the Public Service & National Insurance – 52-Week Skills Empowerment Programme

#Bahamas, May 31, 2018 – Nassau – In 2016, the Progressive Liberal Party started the National Employment and Empowerment Programme (NEEP).  The programme placed individuals in Government and other offices irrespective of qualifications, suitability, interest or checks to determine whether or not they were employed at the time.

These individuals were not officially engaged.  They were not given any letter of employment, which means that their placement remained uncertain throughout the life of the programme.  NEEP will come to a close effective Thursday 31 May 2018.  Participants in the programme will be given notice pay plus any accrued vacation leave.

On 1 July 2018, the Ministry of the Public Service and National Insurance will begin a new 52-Week Skills Empowerment Programme.  Many of the individuals in the NEEP programme, who demonstrated a willingness to work, will be invited to join this new 52-Week Skills Empowerment Programme.  The programme emulates the 52-Week Programme initiated by the former FNM administration in 2011.

These and new participants will officially receive letters advising the terms of their employment.  Its objective is to ensure that by the end of the Programme, individuals have obtained skills that will help them to be employable and, hopefully, employed.

The Programme will be launched with soft-skills training, designed and implemented by the National Training Agency.  Training will take place on New Providence, Grand Bahama, Eleuthera, Exuma, Abaco and any other Family Island with a sizeable number of participants.

Participants in the Programme must successfully complete the training in order to receive certification of their completion.  Some of the main areas of training include skills development required for Patient Care Assistants, teachers’ aides, landscaping, caregivers for the elderly and various construction trades.

The Ministry is partnering with the National Training Agency and the Bahamas Technical and Vocational Institute to provide the necessary training.  The Programme will be structured to ensure that participants do not have second jobs in place of persons who have none, that participants actually exist, and that they are working.

We invite the participation of the private sector.  We do remind them that current employees are not to be terminated due to the engagement of the 52 Week participants.

More information may be obtained by contacting us at:

Telephone Nos. (242) 323 4281 or 2

E-mail Address: 52weekprogram2018@bahamas.gov.bs

Web-site: www.bahamas.gov.bs/publicservice  (Available from 6 June 2018)