Dear Editor,
At a moot held earlier this year by the International Republican Institute, facilitated by Ms. Sara Bharrat, Guyanese youths across the country were shortlisted and invited to participate in an intellectual debate as a means of valuable engagement. While I was a candidate and did not speak, I wish to share my thoughts as part of the opposition at the time, in disagreement on the subject that ‘Guyanese youths have access to diverse educational and capacity building opportunities’. As such, I contend that while there exist many opportunities for Guyanese youths, there are those who are neglected and forsaken in the wider community or part of society, in particular, marginalized youths in underdeveloped communities and households. Hence, I represent their voices which are often perceived as insignificant. These communities, often ravished by crime, violence and poverty, have skilled and talented youths who cannot access existing opportunities because they do not meet the requisite requirements. These are youths who are prone to crime and violence, dropped out of school at an early age because their families struggle to make ends meet. Their literacy levels are low, making them subjects of misdemeanors in the community. I am yet to hear of a programme, developed or crafted, to help these youths to access available opportunities. One might say that we cannot spoon feed everyone but it is my belief that government, institutions and organisations can tailor specific programmes if we are going to change lives. Therefore we have to bring opportunities to these youths in marginalized communities.
Every day, in the media, we read about the Guyana’s development; its high revenue growth, major expansion of our economy and the transformation of our skylines but this new booming economy leaves much to be desired based on what is portrayed in the media. There are many gaps yet to be filled than being talked about, in particular when it comes to our youth. If we are going to be talking about development, then this shouldn’t just be about infrastructural development, constructions across the country. These things are meaningless if we fail to meet the needs of our young people who are the future of our country. There are many young people who are ambitious and seek a better life and underprivileged youths deserve every attention and right to access the same opportunities that we have. If we don’t take care of our youths today, then, I fear that we don’t have a bright future to look forward to.
While we hear about the visually challenged being able to write CSEC, how many visually impaired persons are able to? The numbers that we hear and read about are very low. These statistics can be quite convincing especially when we look at our recent budget, but these figures and numbers are like looking at Stabroek Market, beautiful in front but ruins at the back or like the construction of new roads but when one travel across the country, one sees many dilapidated roads and streets filled with potholes. What am I saying is while there is development, many areas lie in waste and wreckage – many opportunities exist but a large fraction of young people feel abandoned. Several letters have been written in various newspapers calling for attention be given to youths from the ghettoes. Others advocate safe spaces for youth [Juliana Lopes, SN] where she cited crime and violence as prone to ghetto communities, obviously due to lack of valuable opportunities. Similarly, she highlighted that training workshops are barely advertised “publicly as many of them are facilitated by organisations with a certain aim for desired audience.” Another letter, by Mark Devonish, titled, “Give ghetto youths a ladder to climb out of that despair” related how he managed to escape the wayward life but ache for the youths who are unfortunate, unlike him. He stressed that opportunities be given for vocational and rehabilitation programmes, financial and social support.
Then there is the disabled. I am unaware of initiatives to help disabled youths. Many of them did not choose their body shape nor their bodily functions. They are humans with dreams and ambitions but how frequent are they afforded opportunities and platforms to do what they love or to excel in? No often, but yet we talk about growth, progress and educational opportunities for our young people. Every year, young people are left on the sidelines without accomplishing something in life despite their disability. A number of articles were written on this particular group, highlighting major areas of concerns. One writer was advocating for more buildings and space to be accessible for other wheelchair users. Another emphasised changes to several Acts to improve the quality of life and create more opportunities for differently abled youths so that they can make meaningful contributions to society. This was aired at the National Youth with Disabilities Confer-ence – Arthur Chung Conference Centre on December 2 and 3, 2022. Furthermore, another article, titled, “Spotlight on challenges faced by persons with disabilities’’, Ganish Singh [KN] underscored the following:-
Educational opportunities
Emphasize the use of technology
Trainings
Accessibility to public buildings
Voice in the expenditure of the oil revenues
A letter by Sherlina Nageer [SN] highlighted that youths with disabilities are:
Unable to access education, healthcare, employment and other social goods
National Study in 2005 by the National Commission on Disability found that almost half – 42% of all persons with disabilities were under the age of 16, had never attended school;
80% of disabled persons in the hinterland never accessed any treatment or therapy at all.
No schools for disabled children in the hinterland communities only on the coastland which is often expensive placing additional financial burdens on parents or guardians
44% experienced negative attitudes or behaviours from others. Besides, some challenges were:
1. Terminated when become disabled
2. Employers refuse to hire
3. Victmisation
4. Police not taking their reports/cases seriously
5. Public facilities remain off-limit to them
Hence, she noted that, “A society dedicated to addressing health and wellness for all of its citizens must address the needs of the most vulnerable first and foremost” and that “they need equal opportunities comparable to all other Guyanese and policies and programmes protect their rights.”
Moreover, allow me to emphasize on the juveniles who are locked away from our communities and their families due to their actions and behaviours, and are paying the consequences for same. Are these youths given access to sports, technical and vocational developments and trainings? All youths, despite their misdeeds, deserve to access opportunities to turn their lives around. Systems and mechanisms can be put in place but right now, there are gaps and deficiencies. I choose to reiterate again, how many of these marginalised youths are given the opportunity to advance in a skill, a trade, a training or the opportunity to display a passion in what they love? These youths need our support with actions, not just persuasive words and unfulfilled promises. Again, what do these youths in the marginalised communities get; the crumbs that fall from the privileged? Where is the capacity building in this? Hence, I wish to conclude and re-emphasized my stand that Guyanese youths are not given diverse educational and capability opportunities.
Sincerely,
Imran Bacchus