ST JAMES, Jamaica (JIS) — Minister of State in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green, says the increase in the number of around the table activities during youth month this year is geared at ensuring that more rural youth are reached.

Speaking at an Around the Table dinner at the Guango Jerk Centre in Dunbar’s River, Westmoreland, Green said he feels very passionate about the development and welfare of rural youth, being from a rural parish himself.

“I am from St Elizabeth, and I… feel sometimes that rural youth are left out of what is happening in relation to the ministry, to youth month, and all the activities. We have to change that, because oftentimes the people who really need the engagement are rural youth, because oftentimes there are less opportunities in the community, and that is why we have to create more entrepreneurs and create more opportunities,” he said.

Green said the dinner series, being held this year in keeping with the theme of youth month, ‘Substance over Hype’, was conceptualised last year in a bid to enable youth in various parishes to have a greater opportunity to share their ideas and learn from persons who have excelled in their respective professional fields.

He added that the ministry decided to expand the series to cover all of the island’s parishes, and so moved from six last year to 14 this year during November, which is recognised as youth month.

“I think around the table really ties into that theme (Substance over Hype), because what we are saying to our young people is ‘invest in yourself, invest in your community, invest in your country; be somebody of substance’,” Green said.

The State Minister said among the objectives of the series is the creation of networks between successful business people who have excelled in various spheres of entrepreneurship and commerce, including entertainment, hospitality, petroleum and retail.

“We said, let us have an intimate sort of setting, so that young people can come, they can share, they can speak freely and they can hear from those business people,” Green said