Job training for young offenders begins

PHUKET: Vice Governor Winai Buapradit today chaired the opening ceremony of the annual job-training program for teenagers confined at the Juvenile Observation and Protection Center (JOPC). The program, which is run by the Phuket Provincial Employment Services Office, aims to give the juveniles in state custody skills that will prepare them for life after their release. Teenagers from the center will receive training in three different skills over the coming month. There will be 25 students in each class. Course 1, which will teach the juveniles how to make Thai desserts, began today and will run until Friday. Course 2, which will teach them how to stick pictures onto wood-block frames, will run from May 28 to May 29. The subject and the dates of Course 3 have yet to be set. There are currently 72 teenagers – 61 boys and 11 girls – confined in the JOPC. The youngest is 14 years old. Most of them are being held for narcotics offenses.