Let’s not forget the school leavers

Aug 31, 2014 Editorial

Schools reopen tomorrow and many children would be making their first break from home. At the same time there are going to be those who would be entering secondary school and more of them moving on to primary school after a stint at their various nursery schools.
But even more serious would be those who would be leaving school hoping to enter the world of work. These are the people who are going to be pounding the streets and knocking on the doors of the various office doors with the hope of gaining employment. Many would have the basic qualifications to work but because of the nature of many places of employ, there would simply be no vacancies.
In the private sector there is the conscious decision to cut back on employment because the economic turnover is simply not adequate enough for these companies to keep hiring people. And a few businessmen have been quite forthright in stating that some of the people seeking employment are simply not qualified to hold down certain positions.
Of course, there are the teaching and nursing positions. Many of these job seekers may gravitate to the Education Ministry, but few would consider nursing for one reason or other. One place that would readily accept some of them is the Guyana Police Force, but parents are somewhat reluctant to have their children become professional law enforcers. They cite the threat of violence and the low pay which is a disincentive.
Something needs to be done for the school leavers. If they fail to gain employment, many could easily become ready recruits for the drug dealers. The drug dealers can easily offer the kind of money that would attract any unemployed youth. And these young people would not even consider the risk as we are so often seeing in our midst.
Those who left school with the barest minimum of academic qualification would not think of learning a trade by going to one of the trade schools we have in Guyana. They would prefer to loiter on the streets and probably gravitate to the crime situation that is now gripping the country. As far as they are concerned, other people’s property is theirs for the taking, once they have a gun and there are just too many guns in the society.
This has been the trend within recent times. In so many cases it turns out that none of the gunmen are over 22. Some have made reputations for themselves in their brief stay on this earth.
In days gone by, one saving grace was the Guyana National Service, to which many gravitated. This institution not only offered some measure of employment, it also offered food, shelter and a chance for the pioneer to learn a skill. Many of those who are artisans boast that they got their break through the national service.
It is time the administration takes a serious look at the situation with the school leavers. Of course, no government could provide for all the people in any country. However, in cases where there is a depressed economy, one must take a serious look at the options. There may not be many options at this time but surely we may wish to expand the image of the trade schools such as the Government Technical Institute, the Guyana Industrial Training Centre and even the Critchlow Labour College. These are institutions that have the potential to offer school leavers a new lease on life.
The administration should consider pumping increased money into these institutions, because failing to do this could see the government pumping even more money in the Guyana Police Force to correct a situation that should never have arisen.

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Let’s not forget the school leavers

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