The National Youth Service (NYS), which seeks to provide a platform to prepare young people to uphold Zimbabwean values and identity, is set to resume in April this year, a cabinet minister said.
Speaking during the National Youth Day celebrations at the Moshagashe Vocational Training Center in Masvingo Province on Wednesday, Minister of Youth Empowerment, Development and Vocational Training, Tenumuda Machakire, said modalities were in place to resume the programme.
He said: “Your Excellency, the National Youth Service will begin training in April this year in its institutions.”
The program is envisioned to play a crucial role in nurturing well-educated youth, especially at a time when the country is still facing challenges such as drug and alcohol abuse among the youth.
“My Ministry, through the National Youth Service, vocational training and empowerment programmes, will seek to address youth delinquency, including substance and drug abuse, as well as instill a service-oriented, patriotic and people-first mindset in the youth as they engage. “My countrymen,” he said. their communities and as workers in the public and private sectors.”
According to Minister Mashakir, vocational and skills training programs across the country are currently undergoing a transformation to ensure the provision of quality standards and contribute to national productivity.
In 2022, Cabinet approved the New York State Policy Guidelines and Implementation Framework, which was informed by the Constitution of Zimbabwe; Youth Council Law; National Development Strategy 1; National Youth Policy (2020-2025); African Youth Charter (2006); Declaration on Youth Development and Empowerment of the Southern African Development Community (2015); and the National Gender Equality Policy (2013-2017).
According to the framework, recruitment into the New York State training program will be voluntary, with two training sessions per year, each lasting six months.
Employment will ensure fair distribution of opportunities, fair regional representation and fair gender representation.
New York City graduates will receive first priority at institutions of higher education, including technical colleges, teachers’ colleges and nursing schools.
They will also be given preference for jobs in the civil service, among other institutions.
About 83,000 students have been trained under the NYS system after it was first introduced by the late national hero, Cde Border Gezi, in 2000.
The government plans to train more than 100,000 students at the six existing training centers in New York State that are currently being renovated, while four new centers will be established to ensure availability in all ten counties. Sunday mail
