Second chance for youth to further education

At-risk youth are being given  another chance to further their education, develop their skills and achieve regionally-acknowledged certification.

This is thanks to the Strengthening Second Chance Education Programme (Second Chance), launched by the Caribbean Examination Council (CXC) in association with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The speakers at the Second Chance Education Programme launch
were (from left to right) Director of Training, BVTB, Henderson Thompson;
US Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Dr. Larry Palmer;
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and
Innovation, Senator Harcourt Husbands; and Registrar at CXC, Dr. Didacus Jules.

According to Registrar at CXC Dr. Didacus Jules, the initiative gives participants a second chance and should not be considered an inferior education, for the courses being offered and the participating institutions will be exemplary.

The programme is an opportunity for youth between the ages of 16 and 35 years old across nine Caribbean territories to attain CXC’s Caribbean Vocational Qualification (CVQ) levels one and two and the Caribbean Certificate of Secondary Level Competence (CCSLC).

Barbados' Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Education,
Science, Technology and Innovation, Senator Harcourt Husbands,
spoke of the benefits of Second Chance to Barbados and the region.

Lauding the programme and pleased with the response made by local and regional Second Chance institutions, Dr. Jules said, “Access to the CVQs and to the CCSLC will provide a solid foundation of competencies to enable young people to move from wherever they are to wherever they dream to go.”

Endorsing the significance of such an initiative, US Ambassador to Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, Dr. Larry Palmer, said: “This three-year, US$4.2 million programme will strengthen the providers of second chance opportunities in Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean, and will provide a path for continued education recognised by the CXC and portable across the Caribbean.”

Palmer further commended CXC, saying that the role of CXC and its regionally recognised certification status are critical.

“The renewed US-CXC partnership supports a Caribbean that is better equipped to support its people locally and to compete internationally. This Second Chance Programme is holistic, supporting the development of market skills while also boosting participants’ self-esteem and providing life skills,” he said.

A section of the audience.

According to CXC, the aim of the programme is to assist in the development of valuable life skills and lead to portable certification, but also to advance training or retraining for the world of work and to act as a continuing education platform for future development.

The Second Chance programme is expected to primarily encourage at-risk youth participants including, but not limited to, those who experienced poor life outcomes such as school failure, teenage parenthood, economic dependency, poor school performance, male marginalisation, physical disabilities, unemployment and underemployment. The programme will be implemented in Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, and Barbados. (KG)