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Saint Lucia To Launch New Initiative To Address Youth Unemployment

Saint Lucia will soon launch a new web-based initiative to address youth unemployment.

Minister of Youth Development and Sports Kenson Casimir announced the initiative in a Christmas Message.

“It is quite evident that youth unemployment is a great concern for young people. To address this issue, the Ministry has tested a web, and mobile App called Skill 758, which will be launched soon,” Casimir, the MP for Gros Islet, stated.

He explained that the App would serve as a skills database and employment directory to connect skilled youngsters to job opportunities.

Casimir recalled the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and noted that research has indicated that young people were the most disproportionately affected.

And he observed that as the nation collectively breathed a sigh of relief regarding the removal of COVID-19 restrictions, Saint Lucia ‘shockingly’ witnessed a crime surge that continues to erode and decay its social fibre.

“Nevertheless, the Ministry of Youth and Sports remains resolute and continued to work assiduously for the youth and our sports people to become and remain meaningfully engaged,” the Minister said.

Casimir highlighted several initiatives his Ministry had undertaken in the interest of youth development and sports.

They included deploying youth workers in every community, upgrading some playing facilities and restarting school football, cricket, basketball, netball, and table tennis competitions.

The Gros Islet MP noted that the competitions reignited student-athlete enthusiasm after the restrictions of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a former athlete myself, the revival of our school sports has brought me tremendous joy as we provide opportunities for young people to expend positive energy,” Casimir said.

And he explained that his Ministry continues to pursue the youth development agenda to provide young people with access to opportunities to contribute positively to national development.

 

 

 

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10 COMMENTS

  1. This is a very good initiative … I sincerely hope it is carried through, and that maintenance methods are put in place to carry this through for the next several years.

  2. Wonderful!!! That’s how we (SLP) do it. We care for our youth and underprivileged. What did Chas and his group do??? Cricket sounds inserted here. lol

  3. Good stuff Mr Minister….but let this not be just about playing sports….it must go further. It must be a road to a destination…the Youth must see they could use this to progress into sports as a professional career….I am not knocking your initiative so to speak…. but highlighting a flaw if it does not give the youth the ultimate prize of a professional cricketing or basketball career…but I applaud the initiative, it’s a start…of course not everyone youth will become a sporting professional but the option has to be there if some decide to take that route…time to unleash the potential of the youth in St Lucia… every aspect of society’s creativity must be targeted for societal progress and growth….make these sports a past time in St Lucia where it becomes part of the fabric of society and to do so you must have all communities in volved.

  4. SMH. This initiative was mentioned many months ago, it still hasn’t gotten off the ground. The restarting of school sports is not some major achievement, just a normal part of the process when the restrictions were removed. The ministry of sports contributed to the youth unemployment when they dismissed all the young coaches after the new government came into office. Enough of the talk, act meaningfully.

  5. These jokey ministers take every available opportunity to disgorge undistilled garbage on an unsuspecting public. The habit is employed particularly on festive occasions when the public is least able to distinguish reality from fantasy. What are the new initiatives that have surfaced since COVID-19 that were not available before the pandemic? The Skills App is a good idea but skills registration is not job creation; and neither will the revival of school sports reduce our unemployment levels. Ministers, past and present have been dangling the twins “sports and playing fields” before our young people hoping to divert their minds from dealing with the harsh realities of life. In order to play sports one needs energy which comes from the food we eat. If we don’t work we cannot earn the money required to buy the food which provides the energy. Yet, we’re asking our youth to play and excel at sports when the vast majority of them are unemployed. The Prime Minister has responsibility for a new portfolio, “Youth and Economy” which has so far failed to morph beyond the words on the printed page. Initiatives!!!!!!

  6. What happened to the other initiatives over the past decades??? Where had the funding for those initiatives gone to??? Although it was interesting to see a handful of St. Lucians in the 2022 Commonwealth Games in the UK, they were below par to all the other sportspeople. These Youth & Employability Initiatives need to cater to those whom are academically smart and NOT relying on those who can only run the fastest or throw the furthest. There are enough of those Black people in the world. How about looking to those who can read and write and look for support within a profession that promotes STEM. How challenging is that for St Lucians to do??? Or do St Lucians STILL need North Americans and the British to educate them in how to organise these things in the 21st Century???

  7. Great Initiative for the youth. My only fear it will be managed by politics and only labour hacks will be entertained. Mr. Minister can you give the assurance this will be managed by an independent body and will not be tied to any politics. Anyone caught playing politics will be fired. Also let Virginia from Babonneau know she is better at being a job agency than a Minister. It is about time she introduce some non political initiatives in Babonneau. She is too involved in the STEP program. She makes it look like she is paying the people for their votes.

  8. @ Andrew Magloire, good contribution. There has been little to talk about when it comes to youth and sport development and most sensible persons can see this. We have playing fields with lights in almost every community. This is clearly not the answer, but still we carry on, smh.

  9. Oh boy,another SCAM in the making…Any little gimmick to filter money into their pockets & their ppls pockets.Just a regular day in the life of a politician,figure out ways to steal donated money & tax payer funds by ways of putting out “good” ideas for the public…Listen this is not going anywhere,this is a way to take the Taiwanese donated funds right before your eyes.

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