NEWLO: A Pacesetter in Skills Training in Grenada Part 2

This is the last part of looking at the story/history of NEWLO as a pacesetter in Skills Training in Grenada. We ended the part 1 with a list of the skills areas (occupational areas) that are taught at NEWLO. The story continues this week.

In addition to the Adolescent Development Programme (ADP/Life Skills) and the Skill areas, the trainees are taught to appreciate the value of serving one’s community. Therefore, community service forms an integral part of the training programme. Below is a clip of some of our trainees undertaking a community service project in one of the rural communities where from their own resources they gave a beautiful face-lift to the community bus stop.

Currently we have a regular training population of about 400 trainees at a ratio of 2:1 male to female. Most of those who drop out of the secondary schools are males. There is a higher percentage of females who complete secondary school than males. That explains why we have a higher male population than female.

At present, NEWLO has two main centres: Palmiste, at the west coast of Grenada where we offer both ADP and Skills Training, and St. Andrew’s Life Centre (SALC) at Mt. St. Ervan’s,  at the east coast of Grenada which offers only ADP.

NEWLO, PALMISTE

NEWLO, MT. ST. ERVANS

Apart from the youth who register with us for the regular training programmes, NEWLO also runs skills training programmes for other agencies and government Ministries. We are currently running evening training programmes for about 480 youth and young adults sponsored by IFAD and DFiD.

In the course of the skills training, the trainees get the opportunity to do hands-on-training (internship or job training) within the industries. NEWLO has a working relationship with a number of the businesses and agencies. The majority of the trainees who find employment after the training programme do so through the internships. Over the years, a good number of the past trainees have ventured into and succeeded in starting and growing their own businesses.

NEWLO has a residence community facility that provides feeding and lounging to about 60 trainees (40 males and 20 females) from Monday to Friday each week.

Trainees who complete the programme at NEWLO get to be certified by:

1. NEWLO and or
2. The Grenada National Training Agency with National/Caribbean Vocational Qualification (N/CVQ) or
3. Cisco Networking Academic and CompTIA

As a non-profit making organisation, NEWLO relies heavily on government subvention, in-kind support from the Catholic Church, sponsorships, donations and annual fundraisers (NEWLO FAMILY DAY held in October every year) to run its programmes. One of our recent donations came from the Maria Holder Memorial Trust for the Construction of our new Hospitality Arts facility. The link below is the opening ceremony thanks to GIS State Of Affairs:

Our programme has been extremely well received by the youth of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique and the demand to come increases every year. For the past 36 years, NEWLO has trained about 5,000 trainees both males and females. Most of those who have passed through the programme are either self-employed or employed with various businesses. A good number of the past trainees return to offer their services to NEWLO in different capacities. About 40% of the current staff at NEWLO are past trainees.

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