With many cadets in the My Part Programme currently before the courts for rape, larceny and assault, manager of the National Energy Skills Centre’s (NESC) My Part programme, Rudolph Mannie, says expansion is needed to stem the breeding of criminals.
Speaking after the passing out of 48 cadets from the programme’s induction training on Saturday, Mannie said it was important now with the country’s economic downturn.
The veteran coast guardsman said increased crime is a symptom of a recession as parents lose their jobs and people turn to drugs and other illegal means of survival. This he said usually affects teenagers and although the programme has successfully transformed at-risk youths, they can only enrol 72 cadets per year.
“One of the side effects of an economic downturn is school dropouts because of parents losing their jobs and people turning to drugs to make money.
“One of the best things to cushion this effect is a programme like this. Obviously we need to expand because we only have facilities in Freeport and Chatham which allows us to only absorb 72 cadets per year,” Mannie said.
Currently the programme has a waiting list of 300 teenagers whose parents applied or were recommended by police and probation officers.
Programme targets youths with serious criminal charges
Mannie said many cadets are school dropouts who are either before the courts or lack proper parental guidance. He said 80 per cent of the 60 cadets enrolled live along the East/West corridor and 92 per cent are from single parent households with mostly fathers missing.
“We have a number of youths who, either the system failed them or they failed the system and a lot of them got into trouble. They went before the court and the magistrate sent them to a probation officer or sometimes the Inter Agency Task Force will come to us with a list of youths that need the programme.
“Currently six of them are currently charged for serious criminal offences and they are on bail, and the magistrate ordered some kind of rehabilitation programme.
“These are kids who were neglected by society and their parents, some of them don’t even have birth certificates.
“We have some for rape, larceny, robbery with aggravation and when they have a court appearance, we send our councillor or addiction specialist with them. The magistrate will keep putting off the case until they successfully complete the programme.”
From potential criminals to productive citizens
Mannie said successful participants are transformed from being at-risk youths to qualified and discipline citizens. In tracing former cadets, he said 80 per cent of them are engaged in proper jobs based on the certification they earned at NESC.
He said the last group of welding students are currently employed at energy companies while others have become carpenters, mason, operators, sound engineers and technicians.
The three-month induction training is aimed at disciplining “at-risk youths” through military-style training with 27/7 supervision to prepare them for two years of academic and skills training.
He said it was not up to the Government alone to expand the programme as holistic development involving Non-Government Organisations is needed.