The Scout movement in T&T is on the decline says Prof Brinsley Samaroo. He suggested that in order to make the movement more relevant to the changing circumstances, the syllabus had to be indigenised. Samaroo was the feature speaker at the annual general meeting of the Port-of-Spain District Scout Council yesterday at City Hall, Knox Street, Port-of-Spain.
Port-of-Spain Mayor Louis Lee Sing is president of the district. Samaroo said, "Scouts should now have to work for a steelpan badge, tassa medal, a computer literacy shield, an environmentalist's badge, an animal protection shield or a culinary lapel. "We have to modernise to keep up with the times."
He said 100 years of sterling achievement by the Scout movement has been hidden from T&T's history. He urged the Scout leaders to do more to inform the nation of the Scout's 100-year presence and use the information as a platform for further action. Samaroo said, "The decline of scouting has had its parallel in an increase in crime in many parts of the nation. This is an opportunity for us to offer a softer option than meeting steel with steel."
