THE Courtleigh Auditorium yesterday turned into a massive registration centre as over 400 unemployed youths from Tivoli Gardens and Denham Town flooded the hotel for the final orientation session of the Youth Upliftment Through Education (YUTE) programme — a new initiative by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ).

“In response to the sustained levels of anti-social behaviour, violence and crime within the inner-city communities, the PSOJ in association with many private sector organisations decided to launch YUTE — a two-and-a-half-year programme for inner-city renewal,” Imani Duncan, Chairperson for Communications and Creative Engagement at YUTE, said at yesterday’s orientation session.

She added that the programme, themed “step up Yute”, targets 2,200 youths between the ages of 16 and 29, from the inner-city communities of Denham Town, Parade Gardens, Olympic Gardens, Tivoli Gardens, and Trench Town.

The first orientation took place on December 6 and 8, where participants from Tower Hill, Mountain View, Olympic Gardens, Parade Gardens, Trench Town and Jones Town attended. The programme will be divided into three stages: YUTE Employment, YUTE Entrepreneurship and YUTE U-Turn for both skilled and unskilled youths in these communities.

Last Monday, the third in the series of orientation sessions at the Courtleigh Auditorium, saw young people from the communities of Rockfort and Mountain View, being introduced to the programme.

“At the end of the first phase in January 2013, we expect to grant approximately 1,295 of these young people with guaranteed job opportunities. They should have obtained the necessary technical skills, social skills and work experience needed for employment or to become entrepreneurs,” Duncan said.

Come January 2011, the first batch of recruits for internship placement will be chosen. Each youngster will be placed in one of three groups based on how market-ready they are, their educational background, certification and skill level.

The placement of Group A, comprising skilled individuals, will begin in February 2011, once they have attended attended three weeks of career preparedness workshops. They are expected to be placed in internships by March next year.

Unskilled youngsters will be assigned to Group B. Their certification levels will be reviewed and they will be placed in a development training programme in January 2011.

Group C, comprised of youth with limited numeracy and literacy skills, or no academic qualifications will be taken from their communities and placed in residential camps.

Duncan is also advocating for other entities to join the PSOJ in this venture.

“We believe by providing young people in troubled communities with viable and honest opportunities, we can begin to reverse Jamaica’s high crime rate while contributing something positive to the nation,” she said.

The programme is estimated to have cost the PSOJ around $874 million. Some of the current sponsors are the National Commercial Bank, Digicel, Jamaica Money Market Brokers, Jamaica Manufacturer’s Association and Wysinco.