While Minister of Youth and Community Development Adrian Forde fully endorses the mantra “many hands make light work”, he also recognizes that “no work makes light hands”.
The minister offered the contrast in the House of Assembly on Tuesday to make the point that his ministry was committed to the creations and sustaining of initiatives that provide opportunities for young, vulnerable Barbadians to be able to dream and realize those dreams.
He was leading off debate on his ministry’s head in the 2020-2021 Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure and stressed that “young people must have a tangible stake in the building out of this country”, because for too long “the most vulnerable” have been crying out like a “voice in the wilderness”.
One major initiative of the Mia Mottley Administration, he said, was the creation of the Barbados Youth Advance Corps, which to date has graduated two cohorts, most of whom are now engaged in various training programmes across the country.
In addition to the traditional areas like agriculture and construction, once fully engaged it will offer other areas of training ranging from aquaponics to animation and robotics.
He said too that young people who have been interacting with the various agencies of his ministry have also been asking for opportunities to be involved in biodiversity projects such as those aimed at preserving the sea turtle habitat and population and the green money habitat.
In terms of opportunities for persons who participate in the ministry’s programmes to tangibly give back to the country in other areas, Minister Forde said they were looking at approaches that would allow them to participate in the building out of the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the painting of schools, serving with district emergency organizations and the national effort to clean up the country.
Engaging young people, the minister said, was absolutely important because research showed that each year, of the 4 000 odd persons who leave school, around 2 800 remain unemployed or disengaged for too long a period. This creates a dangerous social situation since “the devil finds work for idle hands”.
Our programmes are designed to “ensure that these young people not only have a voice, but a tangible space in which to realize their dreams”.