Georgetown : With approximately $60M being expended monthly on the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP), Minister of Indigenous People’s Affairs, Sydney Allicock, has criticised the initiative, which he said, did not aid in community development, instead it undertook political work at the behest of the former government.
Under the YEAP initiative, Indigenous youths, within the age bracket 18-40 years in the various hinterland villages and communities, were supposed to benefit from technical and governance training, to support their performance as Community Support Officers (CSOs) in village development.
However, whilst addressing Indigenous communities, during a recent three-day outreach in Upper Mazaruni, Region Seven, Minister Allicock revealed that the programme which had an enrolment of over 850 Indigenous youths was a “disappointment.”
“….our observation was that the young people were doing more political work (rather) than giving support to their councils and communities,” the Minister explained, during engagements with residents of Jawalla, Waramadong, Kako and Warawatta. The Minister, his transition team, and Minister in the Ministry of Communities Dawn Hastings-Williams visited the communities between July 1 and 4.
During the engagements, Minister Allicock explained to the residents that, “to date there is not one young person with a certificate to say I have undergone this training, and have a certificate saying that I am specialised in this area.”
He questioned, “…how can we continue to support something like that when you are not getting the results?” He then advised that the Ministry is currently reviewing the YEAP, and also seeking to devise more structured programmes that would better service village development for Indigenous youths.
To this end, residents were informed of the plans to expand the Hinterland Scholarship Programme, to allow for not only the provision of academics, but also skills and other appropriate education, in keeping with the development needs of the hinterland communities.
Also highlighted in the area of education and the provision of specialised skills training, was the request to have the BINA Institute in Region Nine accredited, to play a greater role. Training is proposed for youths in the areas of tour guides, botany, logistics personnel and other skills set, that emphasise “sustainable utilisation of the eco-system,” as it relates to economic activities and benefits, the residents were told.
Focus will also be on initiating a scouting programme, Minister Allicock said, with the aim of allowing for hinterland-based youths to move around, not just the hinterland, but also in coastland communities. This, he noted, will allow for the sharing of knowledge, experiences, and cater for young people being able to explore the boundless beauty of the country, whilst relating to their peers, he pointed out.
Outside of this, there will also be a specific focus on the promotion, showcasing and presentation of Guyanese Indigenous culture. The Region Seven residents heard that the Ministry will emphasise the pushing of Indigenous culture, as a means of not only preserving the Indigenous identity, but also as part of a focus of bridging the divide between the coast and rural Guyana. The latter agenda is to have greater appreciation for Indigenous culture, something that has eluded coastland Guyanese for too long, the Minister noted.
It was also pointed out that the there is rich, raw talent for sports in the Indigenous communities, especially in the area of football. For the past two years, the Waramadong Secondary School placed second in the Digicel National Football Competition.
The Minister noted that whilst the talent is there what has been lacking for the team is the technical know-how. To this end, as part of this new agenda of having well developed Indigenous youths, the Ministry is working in collaboration with Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to provide financial, and technical support in terms of guidance and coaching to Indigenous communities for sport development. The goal is to provide the support, and also ensure exposure to the big stage as is required to mould these talents.
Whilst in Waramadong, the team also attended the 12th Graduation Exercise of the Waramadong Secondary School at which Minister Allicock delivered the feature address.
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