Public Service Ministry trying to address placement of scholarship students – Parag

Minister of Public Service Sonia Parag on Thursday reiterated her ministry’s aim to rectify the issues facing scholarship students who are now awaiting jobs and placement.

In a telephone interview with this publication, Minister Parag explained the plight that was inherited.

“Over the last five years, people were trained without any needs assessment being conducted, whether formal or informal,” she said.

The Minister pointed out that persons were granted scholarships in fields that the government does not have vacancies for.

Minister Parag said her ministry has been taking the various factors into consideration, including the size of the public sector  when it comes to placement.

“You have to look at what you have available and what you don’t have available, [such as] the availability of vacancies in the public service in the specific fields that would have been granted to scholarship students,” Parag said. “Scholarships were therefore granted without a need in the Public Sector or too many in one field,” the minister continued.

This, she says, coupled with the already enormous size of the public sector, has created a situation that is now quite complexed. “There is a list being created with persons who are awaiting placement and the ministry is looking at every possible option to assist these individuals,” she noted.

The minister said that from August 2020 to now, several persons would have been placed at different ministries and other state agencies to complete their obligation to work in the public sector, as was made clear in the contracts.

The minister has assured that the government is working assiduously to remedy the issues that have been lingering for quite some time and assured that a solution will be found for every scholarship student.