A youth programme has been designed to help young people build their characters, develop talents that will hopefully lead to new jobs.

Called "Student Career and Pathways," the programme by non-governmental organisation (N.G.O) Samoa Tofia, is expected to be launched at the end of the month.

The organisation's President, Taloto Obed Unasa, said Student Career and Pathways will focus on students who are in their final year of high school.

"We want to help those students in particular in the transition for them to be able to have the opportunity for work experience and to look for work placements for students," Taloto said.

 "We wanted to start this programme so that students would be able to have communication with various workplaces so that they would be able to have experience within the workplace."

He explained that the programme will be launched at Fagaloa at the end of the month, and Student Career and Pathways will be able to offer assistance to other villages in Samoa with youth who are currently preparing or looking for jobs.

The programme will help the youth in creating their CV and will teach them about character, talent and confidence-building, inform them about what is needed to be done in a job interview. It will also be about building good relationships with schools, the workforce and Government education departments, N.G.Os and villages in order to help students in their careers for the future.

He plans to work together with various workplaces in the public and private sector for students to have the opportunity to know what it is like in a workplace and an opportunity for students to gain work experience through an internship.

"We have a team here in Samoa that has experience in education who are able to help the youth in this programme," he said.

 "Some students have finished school but they don't have any work experience, so we would like to help them with by working together with the workforce and the students and also the schools."

Taloto emphasised that schools, students and the workforce should work together so that students would have the opportunity to learn about various workplaces through an internship.

Asked about any problems the programme might face, Taloto stated that the transportation of students to various workplaces would be a problem especially if they are from the far side of the island but he explained that problems like these could be solved.