THIS past week, I took part in a new series being produced by the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD) for broadcast on the Guyana Learning Channel.

The series, called ‘Perspectives’, seeks to provide some leeway for students to share their opinions on issues in the education sector and perhaps advance their suggestions for its improvement.

What’s great for me is that the forum allows students to actively engage with stakeholders on reforms needed in the sector and explains to a wider audience why exactly these are needed. I mean, who else would be better to talk about the issues in the education sector- if not students themselves?

I cannot speak for my colleagues, but I do know that being in front of the camera can be an unnerving experience, especially when you’re seeking to share opinions that are critical of the work being done in the education sector (like the proposed cap on CSEC subjects).

But if I’ve learnt anything throughout my short years here, it’s that if you want something to change, you go out and make it happen. We want to see a better education sector.

For now, however, my colleagues and I may be a little wary. How extensive is the reach of this programme? Will our opinions be valued or suggestions taken into account? Or will our words just fall on deaf ears?

This leads to the bigger picture of youth involvement in national affairs.

Supposedly guiding the involvement of youth in national affairs is the National Youth Policy. This Youth Policy has been touted for as long as I can remember and was passed in the National Assembly in late 2016.

The policy was conceptualised after nationwide consultations with thousands of youths. It was crafted with the overarching ideology that youth are a resource that can be harnessed for the betterment of Guyana and it’s not surprising that on the day the motion for the policy was passed, there were a total of 16 presentations for and against it.

And outlined in the policy, are five key priorities: Youth Identity and Empowerment; Youth Employment and Entrepreneurship; Education and Market-Driven Skills Development; Youth Leadership, Participation and Representation and Youth Health Safety and Well-being.

In July 2017, the Working People’s Alliance (WPA) called for the government to use the policy to convene the National Youth Council to engage youth from each administrative region. This council, as posited by WPA executive member Tabitha Sarabo-Halley, would be well positioned to guide the budgetary allocations for youth and youth development regionally.

Halley also sought to remind of the coalition government’s commitment to youth development in its manifesto and its promise of a National Youth Conference.

I’d like to draw specific attention to the fourth priority outlined in the youth policy: “Youth Leadership, Participation and Representation.”

I personally do not believe that there are many instances where youth are encouraged to engage directly with the bureaucracy on issues affecting them. Many of the instances where youth have engaged the bureaucracy have been because they were placed in an uncomfortable situation that demanded this.

Work in the area of youth development and youth involvement may be slothful, but I will give credit for the work being done nevertheless. Simultaneously, I will also affirm that government leaders and politicians are not the only ones who have the power to involve youth in these affairs. Youth themselves have the ability to demand their involvement.

Last year, in commemorating the anniversary of the proclamation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, observed on November 20, two secondary school students barged into the National Assembly beseeching the legislature to be cognizant of the challenges facing the nation’s children in the areas of education, health, social protection, social cohesion and hinterland development as they deliberate on the future of the country.

Perhaps unheralded, these young persons showed that they can go up to the highest law-making body in Guyana and force them to listen to what they have to say. They effectively wedged themselves into the decision-making process. There may be numerous cases of this happening and for me that is exactly what is needed.

We must not let bureaucrats solely determine the future we want to have and the future we want to make the best. As youth, we must let our voices be heard. Better must come.