72 youths to participate in 4th annual Youth Parliament
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DPI, Guyana, Tuesday, 08 August 2018
The fourth annual Youth Parliament will see the participation of seventy-two students from secondary school across the and University of Guyana (UG). The event will run from August 10-18.
This was disclosed today, by members of the planning committee at a press conference that thirty-seven of the students will be drawn from both private and public secondary schools, while thirty-five are from UG. Some of the schools participating include North West Secondary, Anna Regina Secondary, West Demerara Secondary, St. Ignatius Secondary and St. Joseph High.
Parliamentary Executive Assistant, Carletta Charles said that they will debate seven motions.
“In the Secondary School category, they will be debating climate change, non-communicable diseases, restructuring of the education sector and youth representation in governance and for the University of Guyana students, they will be debating climate change, the media and the press, alternative sentencing in keeping with the narcotics drug and psychotropic substances act as a motion on the oil and gas sector.”
The first sitting will be on August 15 for the secondary schools while UG students will have their debate on August 16.
Charles explained that the organisers ensure the debates are non-political; rather they garner the views of the youths, with the hope that the sitting parliamentarians who attend the event, will utilise these to inform motions for the National Assembly.
According to the Parliament Office’s Public Relations Officer, Yannick December, the youth parliament has been increasing in size. “Every year it gets larger as more persons are interested; more persons are calling us, trying to get the information I think it is a credit to the work that we would have done promoting the annual event.”
The first annual Youth Parliament was held in 2015. It is organised by the staff of the Parliamentary Committee with the objectives to educate youths on the functions of the National Assembly, to train young people in democratic practices, to discuss and generate ideas on current legislation and policies for youths and to promote national unity.
By: Kimberley Ferreira
Image: Jules Gibson