Georgetown: The Rights of the Child Commission recently held a special empowerment workshop with students of the Sophia Training Centre. More than sixty of the children and youthfrom the Sophia Training Centre, who were selected for work-study assignments attended the session.
Speaker of the National Assembly the Hon. Raphael Trotman in his address to the gathering highlighted that his achievements came with hard work and commitment. He told the participants of his own life, which as he emphasized was not without significant trials and tribulation and urged them to capitalize fully on the opportunities availed to them. He said that in this trust, the key values of determination, responsibility and competence would serve them in good stead.
The empowerment workshop also addressed the fostering of leadership capacity among the participants. In this session, the group of young people explored a number of leadership qualities such as, consistency, accountability, reliability, flexibility, self-confidence, and patience. The final session focused on apprising the participants on professional job interview expectations and strategies. A number of mock interviews were conducted based on the principles of interview strategy discussed.
This workshop is the third engagement of the Sophia Training Centre by the Rights of the Child Commission for 2014. The first was a workshop conducted with the staff on the Needs of the Child and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The second was a similar empowerment session with the students focusing on building trust and the cultivation of values.
The Sophia Training Centre falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport and is a vocational learning institution for children and youth who would not have particularly excelled within the regular school system but are seeking a second opportunity to be equipped with a career skill. The Centre’s curriculum contains Information Technology, Catering, Refrigeration Repairs, Plumbing, Welding and Masonry. It is compulsory for all students of the Centre to take remedial Math and English.
Negotiations are ongoing between the RCC and the Centre’s administration on possible further engagements particularly in the area of improving the capacity of instructors to deal with children and youth with learning challenges.
The RCC’s engagement with the Centre is a product of a fruitful relationship the Commission has cultivated with the Ministry. Similar workshops were also held at the New Opportunity Corps and the Kuru Kuru Training Centre.
The RCC’s partnership with the Ministry is premised on the realization that the employment of the UNCRC articles will only be possible with corresponding empowerment and capacity building among our children and youth.
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