Benavente encourages students to pursue scholarship opportunities

With the CNMI not having enough people to fill all job positions in the labor market, the CNMI Department of Labor hopes that many of the students who are awarded scholarship grants by the CNMI Scholarship Office to pursue their studies off island would return to the Marianas after graduation and fill the gap in the islands’ labor pool.

“That is where our challenges are. There’s not that many adults that have the specialized skills to fill those job vacancies,” said Labor Secretary Vicky Benavente during last Saturday’s CSO’s Scholarship Fair at the Pedro P. Tenorio Multi-Purpose Center.

This is also why the Labor Department has partnered with the CNMI Scholarship Office, Benavente said, with the hope that many CNMI scholars would come back to the Marianas after graduation.

Benavente pointed out that the CNMI Department of Labor has a website, www.marianaslabor.net, where job vacancies are announced every day, by CNMI employers looking for people with basic or specialized skills.

“Many of these job openings are in vocations such as general maintenance, culinary, sales, and management, and we have such a small labor pool,” said Benavente.

In the Labor Department’s 2019 Citizen Centric Report, it was revealed that most of the more than 36,000 job openings in the CNMI in fiscal year 2019 will remain unfilled because of its small workforce-ready population.

Last Saturday, the Labor Department participated in CSO’s Scholarship Fair to meet with and encourage students to further their education.

“We are trying to encourage them to look beyond high school and college, look beyond for their future. Get a really good job or open their own businesses, to create that entrepreneurial spirit within their minds, while they are young,” Benavente added.

The Labor secretary is confident that by putting the information in front of the students, they can make wise decisions as to learning skills right out of high school, and going on to college.

“[I] encourage them to further their education, go to college,” Benavente said. “It is one of the best things you can do for your life. Lifelong learning is a gift and they should take advantage of the opportunities from the CNMI Scholarship Office.”

“There aren’t too many places in the world that offer scholarships. Here we are, in this tiny CNMI, we have scholarships available for students. If they want it, go for it, further better their lives for them, and their children, and so forth.”

For more information about scholarships, contact CSO at (670) 664-4750 or visit www.cnmischolarship.net.