Pretoria - Over 3 000 youth have been trained by the Department of Correctional Services (DCS) in the last two years.
“From January 2011 to date, 3 007 youth graduated as part of the Correctional Services Learnership programme,” the department said on Tuesday.
On Friday, 1 009 youth graduated at the Correctional Services Training Centre in Kroonstad, in the Free State.
“The FET Learnership in Corrections is one of our flagship skills development programmes. It is not only aimed at creating a pool of entry level Correctional Officials, but it is also our response to the call, by President Jacob Zuma, to contribute to youth employment and poverty alleviation.
“Our learnership is a prime example of work-integrated learning, being encouraged by the Department of Higher Education and Training, where learners are afforded an opportunity to engage in both theoretical (3 months), and practical (9 months), learning,” said DCS Minister Sibusiso Ndebele.
As part of government’s programme of action to address unemployment, and expand opportunities for greater employment and empowerment of youth in the country, the learnership is a successful partnership between DCS and the Safety and Security Seta (SASSETA), to train young people as correctional officials.
Men and women below the age of 35, undergo theoretical, and practical, training in different aspects of correctional services for a 12-month period, while at the Correctional Services College. The learnership programme is being used to increase the number of correctional officials. - SAnews.gov.za
