Youth Week celebrated with series of events

The Ministry of Youth Development and National Service (MYDNS) celebrated Youth Week with a series of activities from August 15-17. The activities were geared towards bringing together youth, youth workers, MYDNS officials and other stakeholders to discuss the issues affecting young people in the workplace.

Speaking at the launch at the UWI Teaching and Learning Centre on Tuesday, Cummings said the week of events, in its second year, was conceived as a celebration of International Youth Day, marked on August 12.

“Youth Week is how MYDNS is celebrating the potential of youth, partners in our country, and is how our ministry is actively addressing youth development issues. Youth Week brings youth from across the country to common spaces where they can meet and interact with each other. These youth also get to meet and converse with us, the executive and staff of the MYDNS.”

The first event was a youth worker conference, themed Pathways to Professional Youth Work, Cummings said. It was held on Tuesday at the same venue.

“The conference aims to bring together youth development associates and officers from the MYDNS, youth workers from our various communities, and youth development specialists locally and regionally. This conference also aims to strengthen our local network of youth workers and places emphasis on best practices geared towards the professionalisation of youth work in TT. We are truly overwhelmed by the number of youth workers interested in this session. I look forward to the discussions they will engage in.”

The second event, held on Wednesday, was a youth entrepreneurship market and career prep event at NAPA, Port of Spain.

Cummings said he was often approached by young people who asked what government could do for them.

“I say you need to first ask: what are you doing for yourself? How are you planning your future?

"One of the first things you have to do is to arm yourself with a good education so you can chart a career path that would lead you to achieve all the things you want to achieve. That does not say government will not facilitate and put all the necessary things in place to assist you in achieving that objective.”

The event involved sessions on resume writing, interview preparation, mock interview, dressing for the workplace, and more.

Cummings said in addition to the over 30 technical and vocational programmes run by his ministry, government had recently approved a medium and small business grant.

“It's not a loan, it’s not to be paid back, so that over 1,000 young people will benefit from this annually and we intend to invest over $24 million each year, because the programme also involves some level of training and mentorship, and it’s executed by NEDCO.

"Sixty per cent of that grant would be reserved for young people under the age of 35. It’s a grant of $20,000.

“We have been training a lot of people in technical and vocational areas and we want to ensure that once we conduct that training, that there are opportunities for them to go into business and create employment for our young people.”

He said the ministry would soon be launching an app to connect trainees to employers locally, regionally, and internationally. He said a National Service TT programme would soon be launched in conjunction with the defence force.

Asked whether the educational system was what it needed to be for the youth of today, Cummings said the ministry was working closely with the Ministry of Education (MoE).

“I know the MoE is doing a lot of work in terms of improving the offerings at the primary and secondary levels, including technical and vocational learning. We will continue to do all we can to get a more well-rounded citizen coming out of our education system.

"In terms of our technical vocational programmes at the ministry, it does involve life skills and what you refer to as civics, as we try to showcase to our young people the importance of national development and the importance of their role in national development.”

The final event of Youth Week will be a Youth on the Stage Talent Expo at the Queen’s Park Savannah on Thursday. The event will feature young artists who have made a name for themselves as well as those who are building their careers. It will be free to the public.

One young person attending the conference said he was studying solar engineering and related fields, and was interested in what the conference would offer.

"It’s three breakout rooms, one with ethics and the Commonwealth, the other one is with people from the Association of Youth Development, and the last one is artificial intelligence and digital transformation."

A young woman said she thought the event had promise and wanted to see what would happen.