May 21, 2018
Employment money tackles NEET nefs on the couch
Employment Minister Willie Jackson says a $15 million Budget allocation to enhance education and employment outcomes for rangatahi represents a great opportunity for young urban Maori.
The funding will focus on then 84,000 young people not in education, employment or training, including more than 28,000 Maori.
It includes $1 million to develop programmes where Maori wardens support and mentor rangatahi and provide them with the soft skills needed to succeed in work or further education.
"Young people who are looking for an opportunity, we need something to fill their days out as we want to get them some training, we want to get them with employers and we want to support employers, so from a personal ministerial perspective I was pleased I was able to gain that putea," Mr Jackson says.
He says critics of the lack of money specifically targeted to Maori fail to recognise the Budget concentrates on families in need, which is what Labour campaigned on.
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