Dr Douglas says YES Programme has prepared young people to face new challenges

BASSETERRE ST. KITTS- Eighteen months since the Youth Empowerment through Skills (YES) Programme was conceptualised by cabinet of the St. Kitts Nevis Labour Party-led government, Prime Minister the Hon Dr Denzil Douglas has said that the country’s young people have been prepared to take on new challenges facing the country as it transforms its economy.
 
Prime Minister Douglas made the remarks Saturday (September 4) evening at the Royal St. Kitts Hotel and Casino (Jack Tar) where he was the chief guest at a cocktail reception hosted by the YES Programme’s graduating hospitality and hotel trades class as part of their final practical demonstration.
 
“We conceptualised this particular programme in order to assist our young people to develop new skills, or to assist them in becoming much more confident in skills that they may have acquired in the past but not in any formalised way,” said Dr Douglas. Present were Minister of Youth Empowerment and Sport, Hon Glenn Phillip, and Minister of Education, Senator Nigel Carty. 
 
“The Cabinet had become very concerned about the drift of some of our young people and decided to do something about it,” Dr Douglas told the proud 21 students who were accompanied by their parents and guardians. The Cabinet, he added, realised that there were too many young people who were unemployed and had prospects but lack of experience hindered their efforts.
 
The Cabinet recognised that the young people needed work to do, but when many of them turned up at the workplace seeking jobs they would be told by employers that they had no skills. This was caused by the fact that they had not achieved much at the secondary school level by way of CXC passes while some of them were early drop outs from school having not completed the full secondary education.
 
According to the Prime Minister, they were severely criticised by many in the society, as to suggest that they were worthless, not good, and the fact that they were on the streets increasing the incidences of youth violence. The Cabinet decided to put a stop to that view by doing something positive to help the young people as they (Cabinet) could not allow the young people drift into a life of crime.
 
“Today we are proud that so far we have trained more than 500 young people,” reported the Prime Minister. “We have made them very much skilled, very much prepared to take on the challenges that would come our way in St. Kitts and Nevis as we transform our economy from one which has been dependent upon sugar agriculture for 250 years to one now which is going to be dependent upon services.
 
“We recognise that it was necessary for our young people to become involved in hospitality and hotel trades and so the Youth Empowerment through Skills Programme was put in place and this particular area of training became one of the most attractive and one of the most sought after areas for training for our young people.”
 
The Prime Minister commended the positive contribution that has been made by the young people by way of training and by way of job attachment, which he said could not have been possible without the full support of those who taught them the necessary skills. He commended instructor, Mr Michael Guishard, and entrepreneur Mr Jerome Vanterpool ‘Chef Ranger’ for having tremendously assisted members of the hospitality and hotel trades class in a positive way.
 
“This is the beginning of a positive step in your lives,” the Prime Minister told members of the graduating class. “Many thought that you could not have done it. We have demonstrated that you have the capacity to do it. It is now up to you to further demonstrate to the people of St. Kitts and Nevis, to your employers, to your own parents and your guardians, to your siblings, and to your communities that you have had a second chance and you are going to make use of that second chance in a very positive way.”
 
The master of ceremonies was Mr Dominic Stevens, a YES Programme instructor in hospitality and hotels trades. Also addressing members of the graduating class was Mr Leslie Connor, the YES Programme Secretariat’s manager. Mr Michael Guishard requested the Prime Minister to focus more on tourism as that is the field that would absorb most of the graduates of his class while he thanked management of the Royal St. Kitts Hotel and Casino for allowing the YES Programme to use the hotel for the past year as a training venue.  
 
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