Project Dawn expands skills training for vulnerable youth

More than 500 young people have benefited from Project Dawn since the programme began in 2022, with a further 115 participants now beginning skills training aimed at improving their prospects for employment, entrepreneurship and long-term personal development. At the Project Dawn orientation ceremony at the Jean and Norma Holder Hospitality Institute in Marine Gardens, Hastings, on Thursday, Minister for Youth and Culture Senator Shane Archer told this year’s intake that the initiative was deliberately designed to be proactive. Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office with responsibility for Youth and Culture, Senator Shane Archer and Director of the Jean & Norma Holder Hospitality Institute Roderick Prescod speaking to the new cohort of this year’s Project Dawn programme.

(Photo Credit: Shamar Blunt) He said: “Through Project Dawn, over 500 young people are being upskilled through different forms of training. Whether that’s at the [Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute], at [Barbados Community College], at the Vocational Training Board, this is part of a much bigger programme. “The idea is simple. We do not want to wait until a young person has fallen through the cracks and then say we should have done something. We are trying to be proactive. We want to reach you early, expose you to the opportunity to build confidence and give you something productive that you can turn into a realistic future. ” Project Dawn was part of the government’s wider effort to “prevent young people from going astray by giving them alternatives — alternatives to idleness, alternatives to hopelessness and alternatives to believing that Barbados has no place for us,” he added. More than 100 participants are now beginning training under the latest phase of the initiative, with seven classes…