RECENTLY, the Rotary Club of Demerara launched its school leavers’ handbook which is designed in such a way as to clear uncertainty in the mind, and is focused on improving the decision-making abilities of young people who would have graduated from secondary school.
This is indeed an excellent and visionary initiative and the Rotary Club should be highly commended for such a fine gesture, because we indeed need to provide guidance for our young people in choosing  careers they intend to pursue after completing their secondary education.
At the launch of the handbook, Rotary Club President, Komal Ramnauth, made some interesting and pertinent comments, pointing out that the undertaking would not have been possible without the help of the business community and the accomplishment shows that youths are treasured and the best is being done for them.
“Today we are pleased to have the book completed and published. Youths must be guided into accomplishing what they want in this life,” Mr. Ramnauth said.
The President of the Georgetown Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Mr. Clinton Urling, also did the same as his colleague when he stated that one of the best resources a country could have is its people and, as such, the GCCI found it fitting to be a part of the production that seeks to guide youths to  careers after school life.
“This book acts as a useful primer and targets graduates. I urge you to make use of it and ensure that you make the effort to further your studies,” Urling challenged the attending target group.
He said it is the young people of tomorrow who are needed to take Guyana forward, as the country continues along the road to development.
From what these two gentlemen have said, it shows clearly that our corporate citizens are becoming more aware of their social responsibilities and at the same time are moving in a tangible way to fulfil these responsibilities.
Gone are the days when the success of youths was left solely to the education system. In today’s world, the trend is one of greater partnership between the corporate world and the state.
But corporate support to the education system is not a one-way street, because the industrial and commercial sectors which need properly qualified and equipped employees to make the various entities profitable and viable, and by extension result in growth of the national economy.
In fact, the success of many reputable academic institutions around the world is due to  support from corporate entities.
In Guyana, corporate support to education is a relatively new concept, but encouragingly it appears to be expanding.
However, it may be wise to have this support executed in a more organised, coordinated and coherent manner because currently, it is being implemented in a somewhat fragmented manner.
In this regard, perhaps it would be wise to have a formalised corporate grouping whereby all the various stakeholders could come together and collectively pool their resources and formulate a common programme of support to educational institutions, rather than doing it in an individual manner.
Maybe, one of the first steps in this direction could be the establishment of a National Corporate Fund for education purposes, whereby the various business and industrial entities could make  financial contributions.