President Danny Faure attended a ceremony to mark the achievements of the My First Job Scheme, held at the International Conference Centre this afternoon.

My First Job Scheme was launched in 2016 through the Ministry of Employment to help young graduates from professional centres secure employment as soon as they complete their studies, as well as to assist those who wish to venture in to entrepreneurship.

To date, 2084 graduates have secured employment through the programme, out of which 39 have made remarkable progress in their career path. Through their hard work and dedication, they have been promoted to higher positions in their respective organisations.

In her opening remarks, the Minister for Employment, Immigration and Civil Status, Mrs Myriam Telemaque, said that the scheme has made great strides since conception. She highlighted that to date the government has spent 10 million rupees on the scheme which has seen tremendous returns. The Minister noted that they will continue to sensitise the students in secondary schools of the job opportunities that exist in key sectors across the country.

“With the introduction of the scheme which runs in conjunction with another programme at this Ministry, the unemployment rate has gone down to 2.8% on average for 2018 with youth unemployment at 10.5%. When we started this scheme youth unemployment was 14% - that is a drop of almost 4% over just 3 years. We will continue to assess the scheme to ensure that it is achieving its main objectives. Today, we have graduates working in various sectors of our economy all over the country, but we still feel that more graduates should be encouraged to join sectors that are high in demand such as tourism, construction, agriculture, and the blue economy,” said Minister Telemaque.

During the ceremony, there was testimony by a My First Job Recipient and an Employer. There were also three My First Job recipients who were awarded for excelling in their jobs: Ms Adel Crispin at MCB, Mr Anthony Gertrude at International Yacht Services and Mr Eddie Morel at Seychelles Breweries.

Also present at the ceremony was the Designated Minister Macsuzy Mondon, Principal Secretaries and Special Advisors.