Strabane's unemployment problems could be eased with the help of a North West charity who are providing local students with work experience placements in an attempt to make them more employable after they leave school.
The Director of Foyle School and Employer Connections (FOSEC), Máire Gallagher addressed a recent meeting of Strabane District Council to seek its support for strengthening the organisation’s work.
Owen Crozier, Senior Programme Manager with FOSEC
, said: “Many local employers prefer to take work experience students through FOSEC as they have built up a relationship with the organisation and know that the placements will be well-structured and that FOSEC will be on hand throughout to make sure that all parties are secure and have a good experience.”
Director of FOSEC, Máire Gallagher said: “FOSEC’s model has now been evaluated by the Department of Education as a model of best practice in the area of employability and, as we go from strength to strength in the Derry and Limavady Council areas we are keen to ensure that our growth in the Strabane District Council area keeps pace.”
“We have already built up good relationships with teachers and employers in the Strabane District Council area but we are only a small team and the demand for our services is beginning to outstrip our capacity to deliver.”
FOSEC is a registered charity which has been successful in developing and implementing its model of acting as a broker between schools and employers to ensure that work experience placements and class industry visits are of a high-quality and meet the needs both of the students and the businesses involved.
If you are interested in contributing to this work, please contact FOSEC at 71364656 or e mail maire@fosec.org or owen@fosec.org.
The full article contains 304 words and appears in Journal Friday newspaper.
