Student Partnership Program

In this program students would be employed part-time to work in the Vissot industry with the aim of helping both male and female young people who want to study but are restricted because of financial difficulties. Of course more affluent students would not be excluded because the ultimate aim is to train students to eventually give back to the community.

• Vissot would provide training and support for their studies. The students would give back to the industry through work, ideas and future employment.
• Students would work in a team to help add value to local produce by developing marketable products.
• Students would be encouraged to develop their own initiatives and supported to research and develop their own product ideas (as long as they fit within the existing structure and scope of the company).
• Students would help to manage the whole process.
• Mentors would spend time with the students to develop their skills (mentors might include experienced full-time employees in the organisation as well as experts that visit the industry and spend time with students).
• Healthland would provide short training courses such as food safety training, management skills, etc.
• Some students may be sent to study short courses relevant to their training.
• Students would be provided with a one hour English class four times a week.
• Students would spend one hour in a motivational class each week to provide encouragement and inspiration to achieve their dreams.
• If required, students would be provided with loans to help pay for their studies and would pay back the loans either from their salary each week or after they finish study and start work.
• The length of training and the type of training would be flexible and would depend on the student’s situation. Some students may just want work experience to fulfill the requirements of their university studies. Some may want to be part of the program from the beginning of a four- year degree to the end. Some students may want to learn English; others may value the mentoring or the experience working in the industry. Some students may primarily need income to support their way through study. The partnership would need to be flexible to suit the needs of each individual student.
• Vissot would be provided with the necessary resources and equipment to give a rich experience for the students.

Objectives of the Project:

The goal will be to support students financially while providing a rich learning experience to supplement their formal studies. The skills learned could be applied to any work environment in any sector with the outcome that graduates are more employable and have more vision for what can be achieved. Their professional skills, experience and education would be given back to the community to help local business and industries to be successful. Another important aim would be to develop a model of learning that could be applied to any work environment in any sector.

The outcome would be graduates who are more employable, more confident and have more vision for what can be achieved in the food manufacturing sector and in other sectors - many students would end up working in other sectors, but the training would still provide the foundation and inspiration to equip them with needed skills. The graduates would give back to the community by using their professional skills, experience and education to help local business and industries to be successful.