PNM Tobago East candidate Ayanna Webster-Roy says too many of the country’s young people are becoming involved in gang activity.
Addressing a political meeting in Glamorgan on April 10, Webster-Roy said the government, if it retains office after the April 28 general election, will expand the technical/vocational skills training programme to cater to young people who may have “fallen through the cracks” in the school system.
“One of the areas we recognise that is an area of focus for young people is additional tech/voc skills training opportunities. Not everybody, as we say in the countryside, could take book, not everybody could sit down and focus in a classroom setting and take the learning. So some people would have to go out and take the technical vocational skills training,” she said.
“So what we intend to do is to expand and enhance the financial contribution and opportunities made available through that particular sector so that more young persons who need the training could access the training.”
Webster-Roy, who is seeking her third term as the representative for the constituency, said too many young people were becoming involved in crime.
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“We have recognised that we are starting to lose some of our sons and daughters, they are falling through the cracks. And when they fall through the cracks, you know where they end up?
“They end up in the clutches of someone who call themselves a community leader, they end up in the clutches of someone who call themselves a so-called gang leader and then what obviously happens in the long run is that we start losing them when people start to fight for territory and they can’t cross border.”
She continued, “We want to safeguard our sons and our daughters. We recognise that our children are our most valuable asset and we are committed to doing all that is necessary to create opportunities for even our most vulnerable boys and girls.”
Webster-Roy, Minister in the Office of the Prime Minister, said during a recent walkabout in Mt Grace, a resident urged her to help the boys who are not academically inclined in communities.
“Too many teachers frustrated because there is a policy now where every child could go to high school and even those who are scoring under 30 per cent, even while they are in high school.”
She told supporters the education ministry also has been playing its part to address the problem through remedial programmes.
“But we recognise that some of our boys and girls were still falling through the cracks. We have to make sure that we strengthen the tech/voc sector and we have to do it from early, give them little children a chance so that they will feel as though they matter, that even though they might pass and they in the high school and they can’t function, create the opportunities for them at the tech voc level so that they feel they have a contribution to make.”
Webster-Roy said Prime Minister Stuart Young is committed to expanding the tech/voc programme for young people “so that they don’t fall prey to those so-called gang leaders, those so-called community leaders who are causing havoc in our communities.”
