MANCHESTER, Jamaica – Custos of Manchester, Garfield Green, is appealing to students at high schools in the parish to make the best use of their education to help Jamaica achieve the strategic goals under Vision 2030 Jamaica.

Speaking at a function at the May Day High School on Monday, September 12, to mark the official reopening of schools in the parish, the Custos said that everyone has a responsibility to work for a prosperous society.

“It is the responsibility of all of us to help this great nation achieve Vision 2030, and the office of the Custos seeks to engage and inspire our people, especially our youth [in this regard],” he said.

[We want to] “ignite the population towards greater patriotism and social responsibility,” the Custos added.

Vision 2030 Jamaica is the country’s first long-term strategic development plan covering a 21-year period from 2009-2030.

It embodies the plans and processes for the realisation of a collective vision to make Jamaica ‘the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business.’

Achievement of the four Goals and 15 National Outcomes of the plan is expected to result in a vibrant and internationally competitive economy, a secure and cohesive society, a healthy natural environment, a high level of human capital development, and greater opportunities for social and economic mobility and prosperity.

The school reopening event was held under the Manchester Beliefs, Values and Attitudes Initiative in the office of the Custos, which is aimed at promoting patriotism and social responsibility in schools.

Participating high schools were Manchester, Mile Gully, Cross Keys, New Forest, Christiana and Porus.

Green said, “there is no better place to tackle and address the social ills in our society [than school] and we want our schools at all levels to produce persons of self-respect, respect for others and for our national symbols.”

Regional Director at the Ministry of Education and Youth, Otis Brown, hailed the students for their resilience during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and urged them to move forward and achieve success.

He commended the Custos for staging the back-to-school session and expressed the hope that it will become an annual event in helping to instil in students, “a sense of pride in your schools and in your country.”

Acting Chief Education Officer with responsibility for Curriculum and Support Services, Dr Clover Hamilton-Flowers, wished the students success during the new school year and encouraged them to reach out to their peers who need support.

She also urged stakeholders to invest in the “total development of children.”