The nation’s flagship youth development programmes are transforming lives, with over 6 000 young people engaged in initiatives aimed at reducing delinquency and fostering personal and professional growth, government officials have told the parliamentary appropriations committee.
During Monday’s continued Estimates debate in the House of Assembly Marcus Stephen, coordinator of the Block Transformation Unit, said several initiatives under the Ministry of Youth, including the Project Dawn programme, continue to record great success.
He said: “To date, we have impacted over 6 000 young persons across the blocks and communities in Barbados. We have partnered with The Barbados Police Service, Government Industrial School, Barbados Prison Service, Barbados Youth Advance Corps and other social agencies.
“At present at the Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology (SJPIT) there are 272 students in training, and at the Jean Norma Holder Hospitality Institute (JNHHI), there are 80 . . . .We within the Ministry of Sports, Youth, and Community Empowerment believe that every man deserves a chance.”
He noted that participants have been training in several skills-based professions such as bar operations, hair braiding, barbering, skid-steer loader (Bobcat) operations and others, with a heavy focus on life skills.
Minister of Youth, Sports and Community Empowerment Charles Griffith also lent his full support to the work being done by the Barbados Youth Advance Corps (BYAC) and recounted an encounter with a former participant who had successfully transitioned into the Barbados Defence Force (BDF).
“I did a site visit at Paragon, and when I was exiting the compound, I was stopped by the guard at the guard hut. He put out his hand, and I stopped right next to him, and he said to me: ‘Minister, I have been a product of BYAC; I recently joined the Barbados Defence Force.’ You can imagine the pride [he had] because he was standing there at the guard hut with a sidearm representing the Barbados Defence Force as an immediate past student of the Barbados Youth Advance Corps.
“In my opinion as minister, it doesn’t get much better than that.”
Director of the Barbados Youth Advance Corps (BYAC), Hally Haynes, revealed that over 1 000 young people have successfully completed its developmental training programme since its inception in 2019.
Haynes told lawmakers: “To date, some 1 053 persons – 689 males and 364 females – have successfully completed the Barbados Youth Advance Corps developmental training programme. I am also pleased to report that through our partnership with tech-voc institutions – Samuel Jackman Prescod Institute of Technology, TVET and BIMAP – we have been able to secure 246 certifications for young people in this country in a variety of disciplines.”
He noted that BYAC has also seen major academic successes among its participants who engage in Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) programmes.
“I’m also pleased that our CXC programme [has had] 117 passes in a variety of disciplines during the period. These are young people who, for the first time, were given an opportunity to have CXCs, and they did extremely well. We have a success rate of 65 per cent,” he said.
Haynes added that 187 people have also completed vocational qualifications in English and Mathematics, with a pass rate of 95 per cent. He further stated that out of those who participated in cohorts one to six, 379 trainees are now gainfully employed across Barbados. (SB)
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