– as they vie to become Junior Mayor for a year

NEW Linden Mayor, Waneka Arindell has rolled out her signature programme which has seen a group of students from the various secondary schools in Linden vying for the post of junior mayor.

The programme is geared towards equipping the youths of Linden with the requisite skills and knowledge needed in the local government arena.
One of the challenges the present councillors face, Arindell says, is the lack of knowledge relating to local governance, since most of them have never functioned in a political capacity before.

“The main aim of the programme,” the mayor says, “is having continuity in leadership at the local level. It was birthed out of the struggles the councillors faced following Local Government Election, entering without any prior training.”

The programme was launched two weeks ago, and the students, all fourth formers, were each furnished with a booklet on local governance which they will study.
When done, they will then be tasked with completing an essay which will be judged by councillors. The students will also participate in a debate competition. The overall winner will be His or Her Junior Worship of Linden.

The student will shadow Mayor Arindell and have a first-hand opportunity of experiencing the day-to-day life of Her Worship for a one-year tenure. Arrindell will be making representation to the Council for the junior mayor to be given a stipend as a form of incentive.

“They have to go back to their schools and hold discussions with other students,” she said, adding:

“They have to help establish a system of student governance, following which they will debate each other, and one of them will become Junior Mayor for one year. And they’re going to be entitled to walk with the mayor, and to also help us strengthen local democracy in our schools.”

The programme also makes provision for all of the Councillors to hold discussions relative to local governance in schools in their various constituencies.

This programme is also intended to raise awareness on the need for youths to be a part of local governance, and the build their enthusiasm for wanting to do so.
In addition to this programme, Arindell noted that she will be prioritising youth development through academia, since working with youths have always been her passion.
“My passion has always been working with children, and the importance of each child being able to read and write according to their age for an educated population is a population that will survive,” Mayor Arindell said.

“If we cannot train from the cradle, then we will lose them in their youthful stage, and we will continue to have a stagnated population. With the rise in oil find, if we do not have an educated population, then we will continue to have overseas investors and workers taking all our finances away from our country and town,” she added,
The Linden Mayor will be seeking the blessings of the Council to establish literacy hubs all

across Linden, and in the future to establish a literacy school in an effort to help slow learners.