CARICOM Youth Ambassador opens National Youth Lecture Series

The St Vincent and the Grenadines National Youth Lecture Series 2012 began last Thursday evening with a presentation by CARICOM Youth Ambassador and 2012 Duke of Edinburgh Gold Medal Awardee Tamira Browne.{{more}}

Browne, who presented on the topic ‘Youth in Education’, was from the outset able to capture the attention of her audience with her personal accounts and analogies. Making reference to her recent interaction with a disgruntled young colleague on the social media network ‘Facebook’, the featured speaker admonished her audience, “After my presentation tonight, I want for you to determine the merit of both of these status updates” — referring to that posted by her colleague and her subsequent response.

In her presentation, Browne worked her way through a global perspective on access to education and associated completion rates. She then proceeded to examine the impact of issues such as “the weight of public opinion as to what constitutes good schooling” and “national educational policies” on the equitability and general performance of the educational system.

According to Browne, “Within the last decade, there has undoubtedly been a continual multiplicity of developments that serve as an avenue to considerably advance the educational needs of the youth in St Vincent and the Grenadines”.

In this, Browne was referring to the physical and structural developments within the local educational system within the past decade, but she, however, did not fail to detail the methodological improvements made at all educational levels within the same period.

The local challenges to youth in education were not overlooked. While reminding her audience of the traditional challenges of “male marginalization” and “[the] breakdown in discipline and guidance”, they were also enlightened on more contemporary concerns ranging from “the problem of social stigma and discrimination towards youth with disabilities” to “lower-than-anticipated results at CAPE/A-Level Examinations”.

Browne, in conclusion, stated “we must understand that it is education itself which will assist in building a sustainable economy and in creating the means which in turn must pay for the education of the succeeding generations”.

The panel discussion and open forum included contributions from panellists Emil Dougan and Theon Gordon, who reinforced the message of a fast improving educational system with scope for improvements.

The SVG National Youth Lecture Series 2012 continues with ‘Youth in Arts & Culture’, this Thursday, July 26 from 7:15 p.m. at the Peace Memorial Hall. The featured speaker will be young visual artist and video producer Akley Olton – Graduate of the UWI Cave Hill’s Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination.

The Master of Ceremonies for last Thursday’s lecture was Jamal Browne, who is also the Series Coordinator.