BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, NOVEMBER 2ND 2009 (CUOPM) – Some 25 students from Barbados are to visit St. Kitts and Nevis by the end of this year.

The CARICOM Secretariat in Guyana is facilitating the mission as it wraps up a project entitled: Students engaging the CSME through Field Promotion.

The workshops as well as the Student Missions were facilitated by the CARICOM Secretariat with assistance provided by the 9th EDF European Development Fund (EDF), Caribbean Integration Support Programme (CISP).

Students from tertiary institutions in the eleven other CARICOM States participating in the CSME have already completed their missions as part of the public education programme on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME).

 The project which began last year saw two-hundred (200) students moving throughout CARICOM with a view to engaging the next generation in identifying career opportunities in the field with regard to wage employment, self employment and starting a business within the CSME.  Some 25 students from St. Kitts and Nevis went to St. Lucia.

During their stay in the host country, the students visited various public and private sector organizations where they had the opportunity to learn about the organization and engage senior personnel in discussion.

In addition to the Student Missions, members of the media have also benefited from the Secretariat’s public education programme. More than thirty broadcasters and newspaper editors from the Caribbean Community attended two workshops on the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) which were held recently in Saint Lucia and Jamaica respectively.

During both workshops a wide range of topics was presented and discussed such as Establishing a Business in the CSME, The Benefits of Competition Policy and Journalists Professional Development in the CSME.

The Broadcasters and Newspaper Editors workshops were the third in a series being facilitated by the CARICOM Secretariat.  Positive feedback continues to be received from participants and there are plans in place to continue the workshop series next year.