Minister of Youth Development and National Service Foster Cummings is concerned about youth involvement in crime and is pledging Government intervention to address the troubling matter.
Cummings made the comment at the launch of the Youth Agricultural Shade House Project in Tucker Valley, Chaguaramas, yesterday, while responding to questions about the killing of six robbery suspects by police in Freeport on Wednesday.
According to police reports, four of the persons killed were below age 25, including a 16-year-old female.
Addressing the incident, Cummings said Government will continue to make efforts aimed at steering the nation’s youth away from a life of crime.
“It pains us all when we see deviant behaviour in the country, when we see young people who unfortunately have taken up a life of crime and that is why the Government, being concerned about matters like that, is making sure we impact the lives of our young people so they are not left idle and available to the criminal element.”
He assured that efforts will continue to engage youth in developmental initiatives.
“You will see us rolling out programmes after programmes, we are not going to stop. We care about our young people, we know there are issues and we are going to hold their hand and encourage them to become productive citizens.”
Cummings also revealed that among the major items on the agenda geared towards youth advancements was the rollout of the ASSET programme, which will cater to students who may have been expelled for school or identified as indisciplined.
“It will include all those students within that age group who may have fallen within indiscipline and so forth, and we want to make sure that although they fall into problems at school, they have access to some level of education, whether it be skills or academics.”
He said details about the particular programme will be revealed at a later date.
Last year, Education Minister Dr Nyan Gadsby-Dolly noted that unruly students will not be left idle after expulsion but will instead be enrolled in the Military-Led Academic Training (MiLAT) programme through a mandatory policy to cut down on indiscipline while ensuring learning objectives are met.
Gadsby-Dolly said then her ministry was committed to initiating measures to enhance the academic performance of students.
Meanwhile, Cummings yesterday maintained that all programmes that have been rolled out are not limited and are accessible to the nation’s youth.
“We are designing programmes to fit that category of persons who may have left secondary schools without their full certificate and are now looking to equip themselves towards employment or generating business interest in terms of entrepreneurship, so that they can provide self-employment as well as employment for others.”
According Cummings, the launch of the Youth Agricultural Shade House Project will allow youth certification, through the University of the West Indies, in an agricultural programme.
The students will be given the opportunity to matriculate into higher areas, as well as establish their own shade house projects or participate in the farmer’s cooperative that is expected to be established.