In the spirit of inter-ministerial partnership and meaningful collaboration, on Monday the 14^th December 2020, the Minister for Employment and Social Affairs Mrs. Patricia Francourt had a first meeting with the Minister for Education, Mr. Justin Valentin. Considered a key partner, the Ministry of Education is crucial to attaining the Ministry’s goal of building a productive and self-sufficient workforce able to enjoy decent work and a good quality of life.

The purpose of the meeting was to touch base on the progress made in regards to increasing the intake of S5 students by Professional Centers for 2021. This is crucial step in ensuring that youths remain in school for as long as possible considering difficulties being experienced by the labour market in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Minister appraised the work of a Technical committee set up between the two ministries to monitor the process.  The meeting agreed on several recommendations to be achieved in the short to medium term including assistance to be provided to students in terms of career re-orientation and assessment of courses on offer at the different Professional Centres to ensure that they meet the requirement of the labour market.

 The two Ministers have agreed to meet regularly to take up other pertinent issues of concerns in relevance to both of their portfolios such as the alarming rate of students dropping out of schools at the level of S5 or even earlier.

 In attendance for the meeting were the two Ministers, Principal Secretary Jules Baker, Principal Secretary Linda Barallon, Special Advisor Veronique Bresson, Director General Letimie Dookley and Chief Policy Analyst Susan Morel.