MOSQUES are spearheading a scheme to help get young Muslims off the streets and into jobs.
The Kirklees Faith Network project has already steered more than 20 young people into work.
And this success has sparked plans to widen its scope.
Imams are convinced that most Muslim youths still have positive ambitions on leaving school.
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ari Hafiz Abdul Ghani from the Jamia-Al-Saeed mosque in Hanging Heaton said: "There is strong evidence that the first thing in a Muslim school leaver's mind is a desire to quickly find a job.
"The sort of help they need is time-consuming and involves our members giving hours of their time to help these young people."
But in these tough economic times, many young people are finding it hard to get work.
So they are contacting mosques for help in filling in application forms, advice on drafting personal statements or preparing CVs.
The mosques have now started a Job Hunting Help initiative.
Hafiz Sultan Salahuddin, of the Faith Network, said volunteers did all the work. Young people ask for help, an appointment is made at a mosque or library and as much support as possible is then offered. And the scheme is seeing a 90 per cent success rate in getting clients shortlisted for interview.
"Many are later offered full-time jobs," said Hafiz Sultan Salahuddin.
"Long term, we want to get as many young people as possible off our streets and into well-paid jobs."
There are now plans to advertise the scheme by doing a leaflet drop at homes in Dewsbury, Batley and Heckmondwike.
