By Nasratu Kargbo
The Minister of Youth Affairs Mohamed Orman Bangura has told Politico that the National Youth Service (NYS) would be compulsory to any graduate who would have benefitted from the Students Loan Scheme.
He added that they would also not be granted any government postgraduate scholarship. The Minister said that many people have benefited from the government grant for students and that it was right for them to give back to society.
Speaking on the relevance of the programme, the Minister explained that it helps youths to be entrepreneurs and job creators and not job seekers, adding that it also prepares graduates for the job market and is therefore very vital to them.
The National Youth Service’s application procedures are done online. He added that one should be a graduate and be between ages 15 and 35 to be enrolled.
He explained that the programme was the dream of Sir Milton Margai which should have started more than 30 years ago, adding that countries like Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana have long taken the lead.
The Executive Director of the NYS, Mohamed Onanah Jalloh confirmed that the NYS criteria for access to the postgraduate scholarship will be effective after the student’s loan scheme is implemented.
Jalloh explained that any student that takes the student loan scheme is bound to go through the NYS, adding that having gone through the NYS that graduate is likely to get another facility going forward.
He stated that the NYS already has an Act that does not stipulate that, but revealed that the Act is currently under review to meet the trend of activities that are ongoing.
When asked if they have space to accommodate every graduate, Jalloh affirmed that everyone that applies with the necessary criteria would be absorbed into the NYS
A 2020 beneficiary of the National Youth Service Programme Isha Bah explained that she had a beautiful experience and added that if standards are maintained, the programme would be of great benefit to the graduates.
Bah noted that in countries like Nigeria, the NYS is compulsory for all graduates before they could attain employment.
She explained that nowadays it is difficult for one to get a job, stating that the programme creates opportunities for graduates to access institutions.
She stated that most of those sent to these institutions after the programme were retained.
Another NYS volunteer, Adama Kamara explained that the camp was a breeding ground in terms of regimental training, public lectures amongst others. She said the whole process was to instil in them self-discipline. She said the programme was tedious but admitted it helped shape her in many ways “especially in waking up very early in the morning.”
Kamara said she graduated in 2020, and claimed to have applied for jobs but could not get any. She said after completing the NYS programme, she got her first working experience and her first job after she got retained and fully employed.
The NYS is a three-month programme, which was first introduced in 2018 and has trained three batches. The batch of 2018, 2019, 2020, the 2022 batch is currently undergoing the process.
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