GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - Following a successful program of training under educated young people in the Southern Cape, the MTO Forestry Group is now rolling out its training programmes for the unemployed youth to different geographical regions and associated industries.
MTO's involvement in training unemployed youth started three years ago in the Southern Cape, where the company manages 50 000 hectares of forest plantations and which is also home to the MTO Training Academy Concordia in Knysna.
"Employment prospects are bleak for under educated, unskilled and inexperienced youth in South Africa's economic environment.
"So, we decided to expand our training to those young people with the goal of providing them with skills that will allow them to compete in the job market.
"Our only real requirement is that they are motivated to work hard," says Yvonne van Romburgh, Business Manager at the training academy Concordia.
The programmes are completely free for the trainees, with the forestry group absorbing all costs.
Learners also receive a stipend each month, protective clothing and equipment and like the rest of their employees, a nutritional breakfast cereal each morning.
While they hope to be able to offer jobs to all graduates, the goal is to provide training that allows them to get jobs elsewhere in the industry, or in related fields.
"What we really want for our graduates is employment," Van Romburgh says.
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