By Kate Rintoul, Contributing Reporter
RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL — At a ceremony held in Centro, Rio on Wednesday (August 6th), the Foundation for Childhood and Adolescence in Rio de Janeiro (RJ-FIA) welcomed it’s latest group of about 500 teens aged between 15 to 18, who have enrolled in the Program of Protected Work (PTPA). The group will undergo a training period of four months and will then be contracted by the program to work for public or private companies.
The PTPA is a state initiative aimed primarily at teenagers who come from in at-risk and vulnerable households that has helped thousands of young people in the years it has been in action. The program prioritizes those whose rights have been violated as a result of physical neglect, mental or sexual abuse and exploitation, homelessness and drug use.
In a ceremony at the João Caetano Theater, the secretary João Carlos Mariano stressed that the project’s priority is to encourage young people, “especially those from deprived areas, the pacified areas, to gain knowledge and enter the job market so they can an generate income and secure their future.”
After an initial assessment with a registered social worker, the young person starts the course which includes modules on ethics, citizenship, English language, mathematics and computer science. Then students have the opportunity to work for in government offices and in some partner companies, with the guidance and support of the program.
According to data from the program, about eighty percent of young people who pass through the PTPA are referred to the labor market, and 1,050 of them are currently interning at member companies. The program has units in Niterói, Nova Iguaçu and Rio (Ipanema, Maracana, Santa Cruz, Padre Miguel and City of God).
Read more (in Portuguese).
* The Rio Times Daily Updates feature is offered to help keep you up-to-date with important news as it happens.