June 13, 2010
Reported by Chiou Kuo-rong
Written by Lydia Ma

Seeing the surge of high school dropouts and their inability to find employment increase, Taiwan Alliance for Advancement of Youth Rights and Welfare (TAAYRW) recently began offering new and creative training classes to help these youth sharpen their skills and find employment.

TAAYRW set its sights on training graphic design professionals this year and has already helped 9 youth finish a series of introductory courses. It held a graduation and an exhibition on May 14th attended by representatives from various NGOs. Some of these organizations have already agreed to promote and market these students' work of art.

"Just because we dropped out of school doesn't mean we're bad kids. Sometimes, we're more creative than ordinary people. It's a shame that many youth give up too early or too easily," said a 16-year-old graduate.

Classes designed by TAAYRW train students to develop a positive attitude toward work and also teach them technical skills and money management. But the key to these students' success is that someone is constantly by their side to encourage them to keep going. "We wouldn't be standing here now if it weren't for those encouragers," said one student.

During the graduation, one father was invited to speak about the changes he saw in his son Ching-ya, who is also graduating this year. "This is my first time on stage for something good my son has done. I'm truly speechless," he said.

He also emphasized that ever since Ching-ya began taking classes, his family had seen remarkable improvements in attitude and lifestyle choices. Now that Ching-ya is graduating, his parents hope he will continue to work hard and not give up.

These students' works of art included hats, masks, t-shirts, pins, magnets, and more, and these were all displayed at the exhibition. Aware that their creativity and dreams must be supported by a chance at success through product marketing, NGOs such as De-An Association and Garden of Hope Foundation will cooperate with each other in marketing these products. According to Ministry of Labor statistics for the first quarter of 2010, the percentage of youth between 15 and 19 years of age who want to work but cannot find employment is 10.98%. Youth from underprivileged families face even more hardships finding employment.

To help these youth receive adequate vocational training, TAAYRW is collaborating with FamilyMart, a prominent convenience store chain in Taiwan, in raising funds to run classes. TAAYRW hopes that employers in the graphic design industry will give these youth a chance by offering them employment.

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