Pauline Etienne And Bilkiss Jaffaralli
25 March 2008
Port Louis — The HRDC is looking for new companies to accommodate students for their work experience. The next batch will be going for work placement in April to get an insight into the world of work
For the third time, the Human Resource Development Council (HRDC) in collaboration with the ministry of Education and Human Resources is launching its job placement programme. It targets Lower VI and prevocational students and is considered as a "useful way for secondary school students to discover the different aspects of professional realities in a concrete way". The next session being during the April holidays, the organisers are looking for employers interested in taking part in the programme by opening their doors to trainees for about two weeks.
When it first launched the project in August last year, the HRDC's intention was to "look after and promote the development of a labour force which matches the requirements of a fast growing economy". By "stimulating a culture of training and lifelong learning at the individual, organisational and national levels for employability and increasing productivity", the HRDC hopes to help to provide the necessary human resource thrust for a successful transformation of the economy.
Longer hours
After a first experience involving 150 students from the Lower VI and the prevocational stream in August last year and a more recent one during the summer holidays at the end of the year, the programme is now becoming a regular exercise to "establish the linkage between the schooling system and the world of work".
62 organisations agreed to accommodate the 500 young students in their quest to discover the world of work last November. The HRDC would however like to increase the number of companies involved in the programme so as to enable even more students to seize the opportunity of being part of a company for a few days.
Such an experience appears important not only in order to put what was learnt in the classroom into practice but also to start changing those students' mindsets. School is only up to 2.30 pm and working in a company for some time can get them prepared to concentrate for longer hours for instance. Moreover, principles such as team spirit, commitment and punctuality will be more accessible to them, as they will be faced with real situations where they will have to abide by these rules.
Such rules have however contributed to discouraging some members of the first batch. Thirty simply gave up because they could not adapt to this strict environment. 16 years old may appear quite young to be engaging in such an activity but the HRDC only wants to give those students an insight into what a professional working life looks like.
Better understand the labour market
Biswanee Deepoo from the Mauritius College Girls were among the students benefiting from the work placement, "My experience at the Mauritius Revenue Authority helped me go towards people more easily. I am shy but meeting so many people helped me a lot".
The role of companies is very important in order to ensure the success of the programme. Those who have already accepted to be part of the programme want to help the young people to better understand the labour market and to better prepare them to face it. Iframac Ltd was one of the companies that received some students for their placement. "The reason why Iframac participated in the work placement programme is because we want to better prepare these students for the labour market. It has been the policy of the company to give training to young people, thus contributing to the social and economic development of the country. We want to help them to make a better choice of career and to guide them to see if the path chosen for their career corresponds to their expectations", says Mr. Nageeb Khodabux, Human Resource Officer, Iframac.
The Domaines Les Pailles was also among the companies which accommodated the students of the HSC and the 'Prevoc' levels for their placements. "The organization has always been open to students for work placements. We want to give them better opportunities to see and understand the labour market so as to be better prepared for the day when they join it", says Sushila Kurun, Human Resource Manager at Domaines Les Pailles.
The preparation of a structured programme by the companies is a must in order to make sure that the students really benefit from the opportunity granted to them through the HRDC
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