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July 19, 1996
(Development and Rural Renewal)

 

Minister of Development and Rural Renewal comments on student summer employment programs

Minister of Development and Rural Renewal, Judy Foote, today announced that 2,000 have obtained work this summer through student and youth employment programs. One thousand of the students are employed through the paid work component of the Student Work and Service Program (SWASP) which is delivered by the provincial government and sponsored by both the federal and provincial governments.

The Student Work and Service Program is available to profit and non-profit enterprises. The students hired must indicate that they will return to a post-secondary institution within the next year. Through this program the employer receives a wage subsidy of $2.00 per hour towards the hourly wage rate for a maximum average of 40 hours per week. The students, in addition to their pay, receive a tuition credit in the amount of $50.00 per week which is paid to the academic institution of their choice. The student must work for a minimum of five weeks in order to qualify for the program. The maximum number of weeks of employment under the program is 18.

"This is just one of the employment programs we offer," said Ms. Foote. "All of the programs fall in line with this government's new approach of targeting rural Newfoundland in particular, when it comes to economic development. Seven hundred of the 1,000 students employed through SWASP are in rural areas of the province, and while it is important that government supports all regions of the province, it is especially important that it supports those regions where the private sector is not as strong. This program does just that. I encourage the private sector and not-for-profit organizations to continue to take advantage of the employment programs as a means of partnering with government to ensure that students and other young people throughout the province have access to employment opportunities."

Among the several employment programs for young people administered by the Department of Development and Rural Renewal is the Community Services Component of the Student Work and Service Program which has provided 620 students with employment this summer. Linkages, a provincial employment program that targets young people who have not completed post-secondary training, has funding to assist 130 young people to obtain work this year. The Graduate and Graduate Self Employment Programs, which have enabled 70 young people to secure employment in 1996, assist post-secondary graduates in obtaining employment related to their academic studies or to become self-employed through the creation of their own small business. The Newfoundland and Labrador Conservation Corps which provides training and employment for youth in the areas of environmental enhancement, protection and conservation has employed 137 young people this summer, and the Small Enterprise Co-operative Placement Assistance Program which exposes small to medium size enterprises and co-operative education students to the value of co-operative education and entrepreneurial activities has, to date, enabled 44 students to secure co-operative education placements.

Contact: Susan Laite, Director of Public Relations, (709) 729-4570.

1996 07 19   12:35 p.m.

 


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