Dear Editor,
Not much political and social commentary nor analysis is published nowadays in our country’s mainstream media about the state of affairs concerning young people in the world at large in general and Guyana in particular.
The bulk of the news carried is about young people involved in serious and or petty crimes, bad behaviour at school, including fights and assaulting teachers, shooting incidents at schools and shopping malls, anti-social behaviour such as drug trafficking and drug addiction, dropping out from school, exclusion and bullying, mental health issues, depression, domestic violence, underage sexual activity, suicides and reckless driving resulting in road fatalities.
But there is also a positive side. There are some bright spots in world news about young people leading the fight against dictatorships as in Myanmar and Israeli occupation of Palestine; demands for free and fair elections, restoration of democracy, good governance and actions in support of climate change.
In Guyana, the bright spots include stellar performances at the National Grade Six Assessment exams (common entrance), CXC and CAPE; participation in environmental related activities including clean-up activities around the Kingston, sea wall area and establishment of green parks, youth entrepreneurship initiatives as well as their active engagements in sports and cultural activities.
The establishment of a Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport; the establishment of a National Youth Council; promotion of a Youth Entrepreneurial Skills Initiative; adoption of a National Youth Policy; promotion of the Youth Parliament, the expanded Youth Innovation Programme of Guyana (YIPoG); the Youth Entrepreneurship and Apprenticeship Programme (YEAP); the Presidential Youth Advisory Council (PYAC); the Youth at Risk Programme, the President’s Youth Choice Project; government’s continued support for the work programme of STEM and the Guyana On-line Academy of Learning Scholarships (GOAL) initiative are all steps in the right direction.
These programmes and initiatives have contributed significantly to the promotion of youth development in Guyana and, in years to come, will assist in realizing Goal 8.6 of the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) viz; ‘Promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full productive employment and decent work for all.’
The NEET or ‘Not in Education, Employment or Training’ standard, refers to a young person who is unemployed, not receiving an education or vocational training.
According to the UN 2021 World Youth Report, ‘The NEET rate remain stubbornly high over the past 15 years and now stands at 30 per cent for young women and 13 per cent for young men worldwide. The NEET rate increased from 1.2 percentage points to 17.6 per cent by July 2021.’
There is no NEET data on Guyana in the UN 2021 World Youth Report.
Notwithstanding, the global NEET numbers are instructive.
According to the Guyana Statistical Bureau census data for 2012, of a total population of 746,724, Guyanese youths between ages 15-24 comprised 148, 080 or 19.83 per cent of the population. In 2021, the country’s total population is estimated to be 772,975 while the youth population will be 135,208.
Of the 2012 total youth population, 50.04 per cent are boys and 49.96 are girls.
Between 2012 and 2017, Guyana’s youth population grew by 0.8 per cent of the country’s population but it is estimated to have fallen by 4.1 in 2021.
For the third quarter of 2021, a Guyana Labour Force Survey recorded that the total employment rate of the country’s youth population was estimated to be 14.50 per cent with female unemployment estimated at 39.50 per cent with 25.80 per cent male unemployment.
At present, the UN has embarked on promoting globally, a new initiative called ‘Social Entrepreneurship.’ The initiative is a model for addressing ‘unmet economic and social needs and demands of youth worldwide.’
If Guyana has not yet embraced the Social Entrepreneurship model it should consider doing so following the widest possible public consultation with stake-holders especially youth organizations, notwithstanding their motley nature, and the private sector since the interests of young people go way beyond purely youth concerns.
Yours faithfully,
Clement J. Rohee