CONSIDERING the growth of youth involvement in criminal activities, stakeholders of the New Opportunity Corps (NOC), under the Ministry of Education, Department of Youth, have held ground-breaking discussions on an action plan to combat this unsavoury development.
These stakeholders are UNICEF, the Ministry of Social Protection; Rights of the Child Commission; USAID SKYE Project; African Cultural and Development Association (ACDA); Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA); Childlink Guyana, and the Ministry of Public Security.

Flowing from the discussions were suggestions on modifying the structure of the NOC by implementing and enhancing the training skills offered at various NOCs in regions across the country, in an effort to reintegrate the NOC youths into society.

The meeting also examined implementation of measures to reduce the influx of these youths into the NOC programme.

Presidential Advisor on Youth, Aubrey Norton, during his remarks at the meeting, stressed the necessity of implanting quality leadership and self-esteem training in the NOC programme, given that most of the youths in the NOC hail from dysfunctional homes, a circumstance which hinders them from making wise career choices.

Norton suggested that the NOC programme should be integrated into a five-year, evidence-based research project for young people in today’s society, so as to fashion feasible measures in fighting their involvement in criminal activities.

A large percentage of these individuals are uneducated and unskilled, and lack the care and attention that they deserve. They opt for the easy way out, which often leads to a life filled with criminal activities. Society refers to them as juvenile delinquents because they commit petty offences, called “delinquent acts.”

The NOC functions as an alternative prison institution that is designed primarily for these adolescent offenders and wanderers. When they are between the ages of 10 and 18, they are sent to the NOC by the courts, for a period of skills training and social rehabilitation, during which they spend a maximum of three years there.

Stakeholders mentioned above assist in carrying out the NOC programme by producing skills-training programmes and carrying out recreational activities for the youths. Over the years, the stakeholders have been trying to combat challenges faced by the NOC, the most pressing of which is the sloth in keeping pace with technological advancement.

The United States Agency for International Development’s Skills and Knowledge for Youth Employment (SKYE) Project, funded by the Caribbean Basin Security Initiative (CBSI), focuses on equipping those youths who have passed through the juvenile justice system with a complete life and work skills training, so as to assist them in gaining employment.

Magdna Wills, a USAID SKYE Project representative, revealed that, over the years, the project has been faced with the issue of a “get-rich” syndrome by youths.

“Youths want to do well, but oftentimes they think of getting it done the easiest way. They don’t want to stay on jobs given to them because they expect more, and this is something we have been working on for a while,” the representative pointed out.

The organisation has been partnering with both the private and public sectors in campaigning efforts to convey youth development messages.
The action plan on the improvement of the NOC is, however, yet to be finalised, as stakeholders continue to meet and have discussions surrounding a well-structured NOC programme for the betterment of juvenile delinquents in Guyana.

By Shivanie Sugrim
(Additional reporting by Sherah Alleyne)