Dear Editor,

Yearly, the month of November is celebrated as youth month in Jamaica. This year’s theme is ‘The Year of Youth, Trending for a Sustainable Future’.

It is a profound and timely theme, which should be echoed in various spaces and be evidently manifested through engagements, initiatives, policies, and resources that indicate that the society is serious about a sustained future for its vibrant, brilliant, and skilled young people.

It is often felt as though young people are only given a voice in November and are invited to fora to share space and photos with government ministers and other important stakeholders, but as soon as the month ends, people’s attention is focused on the Yuletide season.

Having served in student governance in my undergraduate years and being part of the revival team of the Jamaica Union of Tertiary Students about a decade ago, I often felt as though the inclusion of young people in Youth Month was a show. It was just for the Ministry of Education and Youth to place on record that they gave audience to young people, but was there any true impact?

Having a more mature perspective, and keeping abreast of what is going on in the sector, I can say that things now seem improved. More young people are now involved in different aspects of the society and are occupying territories in their own right. Additionally, the Government has provided some amount of job and financial resources for young people to advance themselves economically and educationally.

But are we even close to securing a sustained future in Jamaica for the leaders of tomorrow?

This past weekend, The University of the West Indies, Mona, graduated a fresh cohort of qualified professionals, including those from the teachers’ colleges. Next week, the University of Technology, Jamaica, will host its graduation ceremony. These are students who have invested and sacrificed much time and money to complete a tertiary degree.

Are there meaningful jobs for them to access? Can they rely on their expertise to land them sustainable employment, or will they be disadvantaged because they do not have the requisite “links”? Can we rely on human resource managers to believe in them and “buss di youts” instead of requiring unrealistic years of employment and experience? Can we rely on the system to provide them with a good quality of life? How does the system guarantee that they will reap from the pie of prosperity? Or is that only reserved for a specific type of people — like the ones who import horses?

With migration being the new normal, how will we retain these graduates in the country? I currently teach some final-year students who have already told me that they are not staying in Jamaica after they complete their studies next semester. At church on Sabbath, two of my teenage church sisters recounted the challenges of changing up to three teachers for a particular subject area in one term. Certainly, this is not a sign of sustainability.

In another breath, it is good to see the youthful junior shadow Cabinet appointed by the People’s National Party (PNP). I see a few familiar names and can attest to their capabilities and patriotism. PNP President Mark Golding will be praised for doing a good thing; however, we will need to see substance beyond the appointment.

What policies are going to be put forward by the PNP? Convince us that the sustainability of the youth can be achieved by you.

Oneil Madden

maddenoniel@yahoo.com