Participants of Jump Start Mentoring Programming.
Secondary school girls from various schools island-wide on Tuesday, begun the first phase of a Jump Start Mentoring Programme – an initiative geared at readying them for the workplace.
Dahna Jn. Charles Gender Relations Officer told Saint Lucia News Online (SNO) that the young ladies will get hands on experience in actual work environments under the initiative.
The sessions, according to her, will include discussions on different career choices, and how to choose the right one.
The ongoing introductory and orientation phase will allow students to meet their mentor – Marcelline Chitolie – a Management Consultant.
The other phases will encompass trips to the workplace and an evaluation based on the students’ performance in the programme.
Jn. Charles said the students will “learn a little bit about career aspirations, dress, deportment, respect for authority, use of cellphones.”
She explained that the desired impact of the Jump Start Mentorship Programme is to inspire the girls to become “well-rounded professional women where they could be model citizens in Saint. Lucia and somebody to aspire to – and that is the rising to excellence part.”
The initiative comes as part of the observation of this year’s International Women’s Day.
“The division is doing its part in ensuring that we prepare our girls. We do not have the resources to train everybody so it is our hope that what the girls learn today they take it back to school and share the experiences,” she said.
The Jump Start Mentoring Programme began three years ago, and seeks to link “career-oriented women between the ages of 13-18 with professional women within their work settings.”