The ministry of Youths and Sports through the National Youth Council (NYC) is preparing to embark on what it called "Holiday job initiative" for young people and Grade 11 students in particular.

The initiative is meant to engage students by attaching them to public and private institutions, taking into consideration that young people, particularly students, have little to do during summer holidays. As a result, they usually embark on activities that are of negative impacts to their lives. It is against this menace,that, the NYC in order to sensitise the general public on the initiative as well as  call on the private and public institutions to support this initiative, organised a press conference at the conference hall of the Independence Stadium in Bakau on Monday  2nd August,2010.

Speaking at the event , Marchel Mendy, the executive secretary of the NYC, said that the initiative is meant to engage young people so that, they will desist from anti-social activities such as going to the beaches, night clubs, among others. He however, expressed his dismay at the response of many institutions that his council had written to, for them to partner in the initiative by absorbing some of these young people for attachment, noting that the reply was just 0.2%.

The NYC boss reminded the institutions that the initiative is not meant for them to employ these young people but just to help them build their capacity by putting into practice what they have learnt in schools. He also added that, the students will be going back to their various schools when school opens. According to him, with such initiative, students will not be idling around as they will also be engaged in the interest of national development. He pointed out that, the NYC is targeting 250 young people but it depends on the response from the institutions. Mendy, therefore appealed to the institutions to partner with the NYC in this move, as it is part of the ways to prepare the young people for future responsibilities.

On his part, Musa Mbye, the executive director of the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSS) applauded the initiative taken by the ministry of Youths and Sports through the NYC. According to him, it is another way of grooming the future leaders of this country, adding that, it would expose the students to the different academic fields they are undertaking. Mbye noted that, for an effective conduct of the initiative to take place, institutions need to open their doors for them. He also called on the institutions to be partners in this development, noting that youth development requires all hands on deck.

Sutay Jawo, deputy director of Youths and Sports at the ministry of Youths and Sports, said the holiday job initiative will not only engage the young people, but more importantly help them to practice what they have learnt in their schools. He also called on the institutions to help the NYC in realising their objective, noting it is geared towards national development.  According to him, the better the young people are equipped today, the better they can be good leaders in future.

Pa Malick Ceesay, coordinator of National Enterprise Development Initiative (NEDI) pledged to absorb some of these youths.  He said that everyone has a role to play when it comes to young people, adding that the initiative is not about creating employment but just to keep the students engaged during the holidays. Abdul Aziz Titao Mendy, programme and development officer at the National Sports Council also expressed similar sentiments.