Minister of Youth, Sports, and Community Empowerment Ahmed Mahloof has revealed that the number of young people participating in apprenticeship programmes is increasing. He made the remarks while speaking at the graduation ceremony of the Maldives Ports Limited (MPL) apprenticeship programme.
Speaking at the ceremony, Minister Mahloof said that the number of participants in the apprenticeship programme has been increasing since 2020, along with the number of young people joining the workforce. He added the MPL apprenticeship programmes are being conducted in the atolls in order to expand their scope. He noted that 18 of the 20 participants of the MPL apprenticeship programme have been given jobs, while 30 participants of the Housing Development Corporation (HDC) apprenticeship programme have also been given jobs.
Also at the ceremony, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shahid Ali said MPL considers it a national service to train and provide job opportunities to the youth. He emphasised the importance of accepting such opportunities provided by the companies.
MPL and other companies have been conducting training programmes for the youth under the National Apprenticeship Programme. MPL stated that it has trained over 100 individuals since 2020 for positions such as carpenter, heavy vehicles and tug boat operator, engineer, welder, and health and safety inspector.