IT jobs scheme for drug abusers on rehab

New training programmes for persons going through a Caritas drug rehabilitation programme at San Blas were launched by IT Minister Austin Gatt yesterday.

Those following the programmes would be offered a job in the IT industry under a scheme through which the government would pay half the employee's pay in the first year, Dr Gatt said during a visit to participants of the drug rehabilitation programme at the Caritas facility in San Blas.

He said that 6pm, Mitts, Melita and Demajo Group would be the first to employ graduates of the course under this scheme.

The ministry is paying for training in the programmes IT Essentials I PC Hardware and Software and IT Essentials II Network Operating Systems.

The courses are 50 hours each and will be followed by ministry assistance for further training for the qualification of a Cisco Certified Network Administrator.

The ministry also financed the equipping of a computer laboratory at San Blas where training could be given. Dr Gatt said the project would put 20 former drug addicts closer to a career in technology.