July 7, 1999
(Human Resources and Employment)

Summer programs employ 2,500 youth

Twenty-five hundred Newfoundland and Labrador youth are getting valuable work experience this summer through programs offered by the Department of Human Resources and Employment.

Through Conservation Corps Newfoundland and Labrador, the Student Work and Service Program (SWASP) and the Student Employment Program, students and youth are doing everything from coaching baseball and tour guiding to landscaping and planting trees.

"This is an exciting summer and we have a wide range of exciting projects," said Conservation Corps Director of Public Education and Promotions Bruce Gilbert, adding that 27 diverse projects from across the province are being funded. "Our success is built by the partnerships we've been able to achieve with community groups and the public and private sector."

Conservation Corps Newfoundland and Labrador trains and employs youth in the area of environmental enhancement, protection and conservation. The group has received $450,000 in 1999/2000 to provide about 120 summer jobs.

About 1,700 post-secondary students are working this summer through the Student Work and Service Program (SWASP), which government funds in two components. The MUN/CONA component helps 270 Memorial University and College of the North Atlantic students with career-related job placements. Other post-secondary students find work through the paid employment component, in which employers and the government share the cost of students wages. SWASP received $1.5 million in funding from the provincial government in the 1999/2000 budget.

The Student Employment Program includes $500,000 to provide summer jobs for high school students. About 650 students throughout the province will work with town councils and not-for-profit employers through this program.

"These programs represent our commitment to helping young people gain work experiences that will have long lasting benefits," said Julie Bettney, Minister of Human Resources and Employment.

Media contact: Marcia Porter, Communications, (709) 729-4062.

1999 07 07         12:05 p.m.