A total of 418 persons have already registered with the government’s RATED Programme with more than 80 percent seeking employment in the area of landscaping and field work.
The RATED Programme stands for Registration Apprenticeship Training Employment and Development and seeks to provide a pathway through short term employment, apprenticeship and/or training education and development for persons who are unemployed or underemployed.
Premier and Minister of Finance Dr. the Honourable Natalio Wheatley provided the public with the latest statistics during a recent session of the House of Assembly.
He said, “Since the approval of this project on 26 November 2022, a total of 418 persons have registered with the RATED programme. The breakdown of this is as follows: Three hundred and thirty-seven (337) registered in the area of landscaping and field work; 79 registered in the area of administration; 12 applicants received did not qualify.”
Of the 418 registered persons Premier Wheatley revealed that since the programme began in December 2022 only 76 persons have been selected for jobs.
“The breakdown of those placements are as follows: 59 persons have received temporary assignments in the area of landscaping/bush cutting; 6 persons have received temporary assignments in administration; 5 persons have received temporary assignments in construction; 5 persons have received temporary assignments in trucking; [and] 1 person has received a temporary assignment in sanitation,” he said.
First come first serve policy
The leader of government business also explained the policy that is in place for assigning registered individuals to assignments.
“Applicants in the various pathways are assigned on a first-come-first served basis. Employers requesting apprentices will also be served on a first-come-first served basis. The purpose of the rotation methodology and first-come-first-served service is to guard against favouritism and to ensure fairness in the access to the opportunities of the programme,” Dr. Wheatley stated.
He added, “The Premier’s Office continues to prepare listings for participants under the various pathways and employers based on the order of application, and will conduct assignments accordingly. When the list is exhausted, selection will continue from the top of the list, ensuring rotation.”
Persons encouraged to register
Premier Wheatley also took the time to encourage unemployed or underemployed persons to register to the programme.
He said, “I would like to take this opportunity to once again encourage members of the public who are interested in accessing the opportunities offered by the RATED Programme to register for the programme. I must emphasise that this programme covers a very wide range of job types; not just those mentioned above. The programme applies to other areas where there is a need for personnel such as in office work, data entry, digitizing records, plumbing and electrical work and so forth.”