KINGSTON, Jamaica— Minister of Education, Youth and Information, Fayval Williams, has announced that nominations for the Prime Minister’s National Youth Awards for Excellence will be opened earlier this year to facilitate greater reach and diversity of applicants across a broader cross section of the youth demography.

Williams made the disclosure during a statement to the House of Representatives on Tuesday.

“This signifies a more intense and robust approach to strengthening the sensitisation around the Prime Minister’s National Youth Awards for Excellence,” she explained.

Additionally, there will be a greater emphasis on the promotion of under-represented nomination categories, such as Environmental Protection, along with a revision and addition of new nomination categories to allow for more representation and diversity.

Meanwhile, planning has begun in earnest for the staging of this year’s Youth Month (November), where the ministry will be utilising a mixed modality, virtual and face-to-face, in line with the COVID-19 protocols.

Williams informed that the committees are now being formulated – Youth Month Planning and Advisory Committee and the Selection Committee for the Prime Minister’s Youth Awards for Excellence.

Additionally, packages for sponsorship for the numerous events are being dispatched to prospective sponsors, and the procurement of the required goods and services has begun.