Many young men are not focused on attaining their tertiary education and are therefore not taking their place in society.
This was the main topic discussed by Minister of Labour, Social Security and Human Development, Senator Dr. Esther Byer and members of the University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus at a courtesy call at her Warrens Office on Tuesday.
???We cannot use the same approach to education for boys which we used over the last 20 years and expect it to work. We need to implement new strategies,??? Senator Byer asserted.
She added that her Ministry???s Human Resource Development Strategy was currently developing a National Qualifications Framework and working towards having Caribbean Vocational Qualifications aligned with academic qualifications. This, she said, would be a means ???to encourage these young men to further their education??? by giving them more options.
Pro Vice Chancellor and Principal of the UWI Open Campus, Dr. Luz Longsworth echoed Dr. Byer???s comments, lamenting that ???there are too many young men in our society who do not see themselves ever coming to university???.
It was noted that only 20% of the students attending the open campus are males and the Pro Vice Chancellor added that while they do not seem interested in subjects like Event Planning, Accounts or Management, they are excelling in film and art courses.
???We have to focus on motivating those young men who have apparently given up on themselves and create programmes and courses that seem more attractive to them,??? she added. Introducing Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Clubs in Primary Schools was also suggested as a means of exposing these young men to computer programming and robotics at an earlier age.??
jamal.hall@barbados.gov.bb