Lyna Mohamad

A total of 7,714 active job -seekers are registered at JobCentre Brunei with 5,516 from the Brunei-Muara District, said Deputy Director of JobCentre Brunei under the Ministry of Energy, Manpower and Industry (MEMI) Pengiran Haji Shariful bin Pengiran Seri Indera Pengiran Haji Ismail.

He made these comments while officiating the launch of the Workshop on Youth and Unemployment at the Silaturrahim Hall of the Youth Centre in the capital yesterday.

Of these job-seekers, 4,686 (60 per cent) are females and 3,028 (40 per cent) are males.

The three-day workshop is organised by Group 1 of the 28th Executive Development Programme for Middle Management Officers (EDPMMO).

It serves as one of the contents of the 28th EDPMMO, organised by the Public Service Department and conducted for the first time by Universiti Islam Sultan Sharif Ali (UNISSA).

The guest of honour pointed out that the workshop is attended by youth aged 20 to 30 years, who have completed studies more than two years and are still job hunting.

The launching began with recitation of Surah Al-Fatihah followed by welcoming remarks by Head of Group 1 of the 28th EDPMMO Pengiran Haji Mashor bin Pengiran Haji Ibrahim in his capacity as the chairperson.

It continued with the launching by the guest of honour and recitation of Doa Selamat.

The workshop will have a sharing session with JobCentre Brunei, AITI Talk, spiritual motivation, sharing session of the success story of RIPAS Cooperative, methods of business working papers by UNISSA, business opportunities in agriculture, public speaking and poverty information in the country, among other activities.

The guest of honour hoped that continuous support and assistance will be provided by both government and private sectors or relevant non-governmental organisations (NGOs) to help continue the project to guide and raise awareness for youth to be more motivated.

A social outreach project, the workshop is being participated by 40 youth, and will conclude tomorrow. The workshop aims to prepare and train youth to be more confident in facing life’s challenges and to produce youth who are able to think actively, creatively and critically in the issues faced.

It also serves as a mentoring programme, a continuous training that teaches youth as trainers for the next programme (train the trainers), where this indirectly will brush up their leadership and personality in helping youth in the future.

The workshop also features a forum on Belia yang Bekarih Pasti akan Belurih as well as group activities.