More than 1,000 idle youths could not be located during a recent census, raising concerns they were working in the black market.

Employment and Training Corporation chairman Clyde Caruana said some 1,100 youths had not been included in the census, published today, despite repeated attempts to contact them.

"When you don't manage to locate these youths after five separate attempts between 9am and 3pm spread over five weeks, it speaks volumes about the situation. Where were these youths if not at home?" Dr Caruana said.  

He was speaking at a press conference which delved into the findings of the census conducted for the first time among some 7,000 youths who are unemployed and inactive.

The census found that around half felt they were doomed to spend the rest of their lives in and out of work. Despite having aspirations for the future, most thought they would not be able to achieve their goals.

Dr Caruana said many of the youths had required psychological assistance before being put into training and employment programs. Several came from troubled social backgrounds which made employing them more than just a matter of training.

"Many of these youths deem themselves to be failures. It takes time to change that," he said.

Education Minister Evarist Bartolo said these youths were not dropouts but "push outs".

"These students are pushed out of the school system which caters for the middle class and not for them," he said.

Mr Bartolo said he had met many of these youths and said that although many had street smarts which surpassed his own, they had low self esteem and had "lost the will to live a successful life".

The problem, he said, was complex and therefore the solution would have to be diverse.

"We need to rethink the education system to engage these youths and not lose them at such an early stage. We can't expect a one size fits all solution, this is too big a problem for that," he said.

The youths who participated in the census were all eligible for the youth guarantee scheme - a training and employment programme targeting idle youths.

Dr Caruana said the programme would be revamped through a partnership with the private sector. This would allow for better resources, employment possibilities and monitoring. 

 

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