Regional Government presents the different opportunities of the OTL and professional traineeships programs

The regional directors for Employment and Vocational Training and for Youth presented this morning, in Ponta Delgada, in a press conference, the different opportunities of the programs of Occupation of Free Times and of professional traineeships for this summer.

Bruno Pacheco, responsible for the area of Youth, announced that the OTL (Occupation of Free Times) program had 4.510 inscriptions, with 1.689 programs, which represents an increase, relatively to 2007, of 9,6 percent. More than 500 institutions are involved in all the programs, “demonstrating, so, the good relation that the Regional Government has with the civil society”, according to what he said.

The regional director also pointed out the "interconnection" that already begins to be between the OTL and the traineeships programs, namely through the motivation of the young people so that they use one of the existent professional programs, instead of sticking with the participation in a program of occupation of free times.

In his turn, Rui Bettencourt pointed out the strategy of approximation to the world of work with the different traineeships programs - Estagiar L, Estagiar U and Estagiar T - proportioned by the Regional Government.

The regional director for Employment affirmed that the Estagiar U has been little used, but that, "despite everything", this year “the number of interested people doubled” and the term of candidature was extended till the end of the current month so that the young people had a second opportunity for enrolling. The program happens from the 15th of July till the 30th of September.

The Estagiar L, addressed to young graduates, begins in October, with duration of six or 24 months (in this last case for the islands of Cohesion, taking the settlement of young people as an aim). At present the program includes around 500 young people in a year with a rate of integration in the labour market of 87 percent.

These programs of vocational practice, allied to Estagiar T, addressed to young people who leave from the vocational teaching level III, guarantee “a more and more precocious intervention in the labour market”, it told Rui Bettencourt.

The regional director pointed out still that the Azores are the only Region of the Country “opening courses in function of the needs affirmed by the enterprises for next years”. The result of this policy, he concluded, “does so that, if some years ago we had 2.152 young people looking for job, at present we have only 389, without qualifications”.