New graduates form youth work cooperative

Eleven students who have just completed a five-year course at the University of Malta leading to a degree in Youth and Community Studies have set up a cooperative offering youth work services.

Youthscope Co-op Ltd will also seek to create more awareness of the youth work profession, which it says is needed despite the course having been offered for the past eleven years.

"Many people unfortunately still confuse it with other care professions and this ultimately reflects the lack of awareness that surrounds this profession," said a spokesman for Youthscope.

"Parents, other professionals and young people themselves seem to undermine the importance of youth work and believe that anyone who has the young people's interests at heart can fulfil the role of a youth worker. Few people are in fact aware that a youth worker has to undergo specific training and follow a set of principles that govern the work.

"It is in fact the youth worker's responsibility to empower, guide, advise and informally educate young people in order for the latter to achieve an equilibrium that will enable them to face the different scenarios they are presented with."

Apart from the focus on young people, the elements that characterise youth work include voluntary participation and commitment to association and belonging. The work is generally carried out in informal settings and is different to other professions in that it is not restricted to a syllabus or set of procedures.

Youthscope Co-Op creates a niche for employment opportunities for qualified youth workers and others who would like to work with young people.

The members aim to apply their knowledge and training in youth and community-related projects that can be organised both in formal and informal settings according to the client's exigencies. The focus will be to encourage participants to engage in a variety of different activities that will help them develop their personal and social skills.

Youthscope can be contacted at youthscope@waldonet.net.mt