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Economy secretary calls for cuts to professional training program

The Economy Ministry is planning its own professional training scheme for youngsters. Photo: Shutterstock
The Economy Ministry is planning its own professional training scheme for youngsters. Photo: Shutterstock

Adolfo Sachsida, economic policy secretary of the Economy Ministry, argued in favor of cutting BRL 6 billion (USD 1.15 billion) from the so-called “Sistema S,” made up of nine professional training institutions. His plan is to use the funds to invest in a government program to assist disadvantaged youths affected by the pandemic.

In a live broadcast organized by newspaper Valor Econômico on Friday, Mr. Sachsida explained that the proposal consists of identifying low-income young people in their final year of high school and including them in a “learning by doing” training program.

The young people would receive professional training classes for one half of the day, and working at a partner company for the other half. The plan is to remunerate these young people with a monthly grant of BRL 500 (USD 95), split by the company and the Sistema S organizations, which will organize the training programs.

Mr. Sachsida noted that the Sistema S — which collects roughly BRL 20 billion a year in taxes — has been reluctant to support the project. “It’s time for them to help.”

“We have a system with billions of reais in their coffers, billions of reais in real estate. It’s unacceptable for the system not to contribute to a professional training program for young people. We need to stick the knife into the Sistema S, taking money from them to allow needy youngsters to have a decent life in the future.”