Webster’s offers free ride on Passport2Success

(CNS): The owner and managing director of Webster’s Tours will be helping Passport2Success students on their journey with free rides to college in Newlands. The long time tour operator Kenwrick Webster has proposed a schedule of centralized pick-ups at locations throughout the island, for as many of the 25 Passport students who require early-morning and late-afternoon transport, easing concerns about accessibility and on-time arrival at International College of the Cayman Islands. Webster says he hopes to encourage young Caymanians to get involved in development of both their own skills and capacitites, and the Cayman community as a whole.

“We believe the Passport progamme offers young people a valuable and important chance to work for everyone’s betterment, and if there is something we can do to assist in that, then we believe it’s the right thing to do. What better cause is there than our young people and our community?” he said.

Webster himself will take care of the West Bay, Prospect and George Town pick-ups, while Omni Bus operator Ruel Miller will provide service from East End, also free of charge.

Ministry officials said they were grateful to Mr Webster for his service and looked forward to the enhanced success of the Passport programme because of his contribution.

“Mr. Webster has generously arranged transport, free of charge, for the participants who need it. It is this kind of gesture that contributes to the overall success of any programme, and is sure to make Passport2Success an ongoing and indispensable part of building our community. I would also like to extend our appreciation to Mr. Miller and Mr. Kelly for joining in this initiative,” said Minister of Education Rolston Anglin. “We are confident that the students will take full advantage of Mr. Webster’s offer, and, for their part, will work hard to meet the buses on time, and treat Mr. Webster, Mr. Miller and Mr. Kelly with the utmost respect.”

Webster’s offer comes on the heels of a similar move in April, when he elected not to collect fees offered by government to bus as many as 22 Passport students in the programme’s inaugural intake.

The Ministry of Education, Training and Employment’s Passport2Success programme, sponsored by Butterfield Bank, CML Offshore Recruitment and local telecommunications provider LIME, offers a selected group of school-leavers and other young people the opportunity to attend a unique instructional programme designed to help them find and retain employment.

The 12-week course, currently in its second session of a proposed four per year, originated in the spring at the International College of the Cayman Islands. The programme operates five days per week between 8:30am and 4:00pm, combining traditional face-to-face classroom encounters with real-time exposure to the professional world-of-work. The curriculum is designed to improve students’ employability, boosting both personal and professional skills, providing practical training in job-specific areas, work experience, exposure to employers and career guidance.

Participants earn a monthly performance-based stipend, which can be increased through attainment of particular goals.