A new program prepares hamlet residents for jobs
Dawn Ostrem
Northern News Services
Hall Beach (Jan 15/01) - Skylar Issigaitok is learning on the job - literally.
He is one of 10 students on work experience placements offered as part of Nunavut Arctic College's job readiness program
Issigaitok, 19, spent a week with the Hall Beach RCMP.
Working alongside crime fighters for a week in Hall Beach may not help him in his future career, but Issigaitok was thankful for the experience.
"I want to be maybe a mechanic but it's good in here," he said. "I like working with them and it is interesting, too."
The program is funded through the college and the Kakivak Association, a business arm of the Qikiqtani Inuit Association.
The 10 people taking the program in Hall Beach are between 19- and 30-years-old, explained adult education co-ordinator Cheryl Nadeau. Participants take work experience positions in the RCMP, school, low-income housing and hamlet offices, and attend upgrading courses.
"Of all the students, none have actually had Grade 12," Nadeau explained. "(Skylar) is doing really well. A lot of people know there are teachers or RCMP officers in Hall Beach but don't know exactly what they do."
Cpl. Jean Marc Nadeau of the Hall Beach detachment said training initiatives like this are very positive for Inuit in their own communities.
"It encourages them to have a career in the RCMP and it's a way for us to open up doors," he said.
The program was also offered in Arctic Bay, Pond Inlet, Clyde River and Iqaluit.
