“Our actions today will determine their world of tomorrow” – Min. Ally tells facilitators
− 40 facilitators being trained for social skills pilot-programme
−115 youths to benefit from exercise
DPI, Guyana, Monday, August 5, 2019
Minister of Social Protection, Hon. Amna Ally, on Monday, opened a training exercise for forty facilitators who will be involved in a social skills pilot-programme to benefit youths.
“Our youths need to be guided strategically to help them develop sound judgement and good habits for long term stability, wellness and success so that they can make positive choices that will contribute to a meaningful life and one in which we can build a very strong adolescent community on which the nation can depend on,” she said.
Minister Ally told the facilitators that their actions will help to determine the country’s future.
“Our actions today will determine their world of tomorrow. It has become evident that today’s youths are witnessing the rapid change of social, moral, ethical and religious values around them, the impact of a small family norms, the nuclear family system and cognitive driven curriculum increase the stress of adolescents which is sometimes reflected in high suicide rates and crime rates among our young persons,” the minister explained.
This, she opined, is why there the need to provide the nation’s youths with the necessary mechanisms and systems to deal with the demands of life and to handle a variety of choices, changes and stressors.
She was spotlighting independent thinking, socialisation, making new friends, empathy, and how to take action in situations as the important tools that the youths need to be equipped.
This initiative is a collaborative effort between Guyanese United To Serve our Youth (GUTSY), the Ministry of Social Protection, the Child Protection Agency and other stakeholders.
The facilitators come from Sophia U Empowerment Group, the Islamic Academy, Josel Academy and the community of Meten-Meer-Zorg.
In her remarks to the participants, GUTSY President Janice Hall noted that while education plays a major factor in youth development, skills such as social and emotional intelligence are necessary for them to achieve their full potential. This was the premise for the establishment of her organisation.
“We at GUTSY aim at helping parents and guardians provide children with the social and emotional skills needed to grow their potential, we begin at the premise that we all need to understand ourselves before we can empathise with others and to consider those feelings in our interactions with others in the home, schools, at work,” she said.
Hall further explained that “GUTSY aims to be a positive influence on Guyanese youths through dialogue, instruction and mentorship to encourage improvement on attitudes and behaviours so they can become responsible adults making better choices.”
Hall called upon the facilitators to continue this exercise in their respective educational institutions and communities.
Following this training exercise, the coaching sessions for 115 young people between the ages of 3 to 12 will commence August 7-9 at the National Track & Field Centre and Leonora Secondary School. They will be joined by a team from the Child Protection Agency (CPA) and Youth Ambassadors from the Rights of The Child Commission (ROC).