A time for Guyana’s Young People

Jan 15, 2024 Letters

Dear Editor,

Back in April 2022, at the eleventh annual Youth Forum, the topic was “Young People’s Meaningful Involvement Vital for Advancing Sustainable Development Goals.” This is such an important reality to grasp, and I am pleased that President Irfaan Ali sounded this message when he interacted with some 50 Kitty youths, telling them that they need to be enrolled in skills development programmes, that the People’s Progressive Party/Civic is so bent on. At the forum I mentioned, it was drilled into the audience that youths must “Take Action, not ‘Pat Ourselves on the Back and Move On.’ Why?

This is because “The participation of young people is vital in order to accelerate progress on the Sustainable Development Goals … as Failing to invest in children and youth triggers substantial economic, social, and political costs resulting from negative outcomes such as early school drop-out, poor labour market entry, risky sexual behaviours, substance abuse, and crime and violence.”

So, I am all for this commitment from the President, who said that “I want our youths to be engaged in a skills development programme; so right now, we have a shortage of machine operators, welders, construction workers.”

Editor, firstly, I want people to know that even high-risk youths can avoid involvement in delinquency, if they experience many protective factors. These include improving education and youth employment opportunities, enhancing social skills, and providing youth with mentors and adult role models that are essential components of delinquency prevention, for too long, too many authorities have been focusing on ‘stepping in’ after the damage has been done, and then the only resort sometimes is a punitive one.

I believe that pathway of having “our youths to be engaged in a skills development programme…” is not only preventive in terms of combatting anti-social norms, but it will almost assure the young people of a profitable livelihood as their years unfold. The good thing about this venture, is that the young people need nothing but their commitment to get going. The President iterated that “I want all of you to be registered in a training programme and we are going to get you employed after … and a stipend will be given to participants during their course of training.”

The big picture is something else.

Just back in November 2023, it was announced that “As the PPP/C Government continues to place heavy emphasis on technical education, six new Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) centres will be opened soon … The centres will be built in Mabaruma, Region One, Fellowship in Region Three, Beterverwagting in Region Four, Hopetown in Region Five, Bartica in Region Seven, and St. Ignatius in Region Nine.”

The statistics are quite encouraging too as “In 2023, a grand total of 4,444 individuals from all 10 administrative regions successfully completed free skills training programmes organised by the Ministry of Labour’s Board of Industrial Training (BIT).” The details show that “BIT certified 187 individuals in Region One, 646 in Region Two, 320 in Region Three, 1,224 in Region Four, 254 in Region Five, 697 in Region Six, 265 in Region Seven, 118 in Region Eight, 190 in Region Nine, and 543 in Region 10.”

Bear in mind that the programmes being offered have enabled the graduates to take on independent projects for personal growth while earning an income. This is what life is all about. And there is a place for every single young person who want to embrace this possibility. The Government is behind “… a slew of courses, including fibre optic installation, building construction, boat building, welding, and fabrication, cosmetology, electrical installation, heavy-duty equipment operation, early childhood development, and commercial food preparation, among others.” People just need to ‘get-up’ and be enrolled. It’s a win-win situation. In fact, as the President stated, “We are spending more than US$100 million on creating a new state-of-the-art national skills-training centre, not only for the oil- and-gas sector, but for every single sector in our country, and every single skill that will be required to take our country forward.”

No doubt this is the age for Guyana’s young people.

Yours truly,

HB Singh