News item | 13-12-2023 | 4:45 PM
Young people who are assured of a job in, for example, technology, healthcare or childcare at the start of their MBO education. And they have been guided in their choices since primary school. These are examples of measures that the programme Go for a Job! make it successful in South Rotterdam. 19 mayors have therefore agreed to roll out the same type of project, with a job guarantee, in their municipality. Minister Dijkgraaf (Education, Culture and Science) wrote this in a letter to Parliament about improving the connection between MBO and the labor market.
Dijkgraaf: “Every young person has his own baggage. One person receives a small travel bag from home, the other a three-piece suitcase set. I also believe it is a task of education to make differences smaller and living environments larger. Projects like these, in which young people start a secondary vocational education with a job guarantee, contribute enormously to this. It gives young people in an environment where this is not self-evident a flying start, helps to combat shortages on the labor market and rules out discrimination when looking for an internship or job. Kudos to the mayors who are now also working on this in their municipalities.”
Profit for employers
The mayors have agreed to look in their municipality, together with schools and regional employers, to see how a project with a job guarantee and a career orientation and guidance program from primary school onwards can be rolled out. It concerns 19 mayors who work together National Liveability and Safety Program, consisting of 20 urban areas with a total of more than 1.2 million inhabitants. Together with the MBO Council, VNO-NCW and the Ministries of the Interior and Kingdom Relations, OCW and SZW, the 20 areas will also start an exploration in the first half of 2024 into how the focus on job guarantees for young people can be expanded to other parts of the country. The added value of these programs lies mainly in the fact that they encourage young people to make their own well-considered study choice. This increases their chances on the labor market. Employers provide job guarantees for the courses they select in promising sectors and thus manage to retain young talent. Young people are eligible if they live in the focus areas and choose the selected courses.
From growing up in poverty to higher income
The project was started in South Rotterdam at the time because it turned out that there was a significant mismatch between the 1,200 MBO students who obtain a diploma there every year and the demand on the labor market. In addition, high unemployment and children growing up in poverty and with parents without formal education played a role. Research shows that young people who start working with a job guarantee have a higher average annual income after approximately 1.5 years than if they had started working in other sectors. Moreover, these young people start a job that suits them well through careful guidance from primary school onwards. For example, children are encouraged to develop talents through additional lesson activities and are introduced to professions with good labor market prospects, for example in technology, port, logistics and healthcare. The intensive guidance and job guarantee gives young people a flying start. For example Samra, who wanted to stop her training due to various private circumstances and now enjoys working as a nurse in the neurology department. And Abdu, who is also studying nursing and, after many bumps, is now doing an internship at a rehabilitation center.