Jamaica Gleaner News - Growth of at-risk youths must be arrested - Holness - Monday

Minister of Education Andrew Holness has said Jamaica's school system must become more relevant to young males, adding that social intervention programmes must be engineered to capture the widening group of at-risk youth, the majority of whom are also males.

The minister, who was addressing the Regional Caribbean Conference on Keeping Boys out of Risk on May 5, in Rose Hall, St James, noted that a number of social intervention programmes are being implemented by the Government with a view to changing the at-risk status of many young males, who are the main victims and perpetrators of crime.

Arrest the problem

"I think that more and more, the policymakers and the politicians are beginning to understand that if we do not arrest the problem, it is going to become so entrenched that we will begin to lose the value of the male human resource to the society," he stated.

According to the education minister, much of the crime in Jamaica is driven by socially disadvantaged youths, with the majority of the offenders being boys, which is consistent with the trend within the wider Caribbean and Latin America.

Holness said Jamaica's problem is compounded by an inefficient school system which turns out approximately 38,000 students every year, many of whom fail to achieve matriculation standards for tertiary education.

Addressing the situation

He said that in addressing the situation, the school system must become more relevant to young males, while social intervention programmes must be engineered to capture the large grouping of unattached youth, the majority of whom are also males. He also pointed to the importance of proper parenting in the effort.

Meanwhile, country director with the World Bank, Yvonne Tsikata, said youth development is necessary to increase economic growth, reduce poverty and inequality "and improve the well-being of this generation and future generations in Latin America and the Caribbean".

The World Bank estimates that of the approximately 100 million young people in Latin America and the Caribbean, more than half are considered as youth at risk.

According to the organisation, young people are 'at risk' if the environment they face does not allow for personal development and successful integration into society.

The three-day conference concluded on May 7.