As part of his tour of institutions under his purview, Alhaji Mass Axi Gye, SoS for Youth and Sports, accompanied by his Permanent Secretary, Mambanyick Njie, on Tuesday, March 4, visited the National Youth Service Scheme headquarters in Bakau.

In welcoming the Secretary of State and his entourage, Mr Musa Mbye, Executive Director of NYSS said that the Scheme was established in 1996 with a view  to provide the .youth with skills for self reliance.

"Since its inception, it has been taking young people between the ages of 17-30,  based on quotas for each of the six regions.  Corps members are first orientated to build self-esteem and leadership abilities and later exposed to various types of occupations from which they make their choices.  The NYSS then takes queue from there and attach them to existing training institutions for 22 months during which they receive tuition and living allowances", said Mbye.  

The NYSS  boss did not hesitate to reveal that the scheme executes some of the training itself, namely horticulture at its farm, and tailoring/fashion design at its own training centers, adding that NYSS does not compromise standards and as such monitors the performance of the trainees to ensure that any corp member whose attendance drops below 85 per cent, is denied their monthly stipend.  

He asserted that NYSS also introduced an apprenticeship program for 46 months in 2002, in which it trains Gambian youth who had no chance of attending formal school and also those who did not attain grade nine education.

Deploring on the rather small number of girls that enroll for NYSS training programmes, Mbye noted with pride that NYSS has trained over 1565 youth in 22 occupational fields of which boys constituteed 78 per cent and girls 22 per cent .
 
For his part, SoS Gye, noted that government values the empowerment of Gambian youth, thus the establishment of the scheme in 1996. He noted that if youth development programmes are anything to go by, The Gambia is well ahead of most countries in Africa.

He however hastened to note that the momentum should be maintained as there is no room for complacency. While challenging the NYSS management to maintain standards in its service delivery, he implored all to work hand-in-glove with the NYSS in order to ensure the empowerment of the youth.  

"My office is open to all of you. All you need to do is to come to my office and we will discuss together and lay down strategies on the way forward for our Gambian youth", said SoS Gye.

The Secretary of State, also used the occasion to advice corps members to take up their training programme with  seriousness, adding that a colossal sum of money is being invested on them and that it was their responsibility to complement government efforts by excelling in their various fields of study.