CARICOM Secretary-General, Ambassador Irwin LaRocque has reported that the prevalence of school-based violence in the Region is on the rise in primary and secondary schools, while level of children overweight and obese is still much too high.

At the 38th Meeting of the Council for Human and Social Development (COHSOD) on Education hosted at the CARICOM Secretariat on Wednesday, he told Regional representatives that actions must be taken to avoid the negative effects of these challenges on education.

A recent review of CARICOM’s Health and Family Life Education (HFLE) curriculum showed that there is an existing gap in the attention given to issues related to unhealthy eating and inadequate exercise. As a result, the Secretary General explained that this poses major risk factors for chronic Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs). “In many CARICOM Member States, the level of overweight and obesity is more than 30 per cent in both primary and secondary school populations,” LaRoque relayed.

“In the medium-term, obesity in children represents the greatest threat to the health of future generations. Every avenue to arrest that trend must be followed, and this must be taken into account as you look at the review of the HFLE curriculum.” He said the same to Minsters of Education and Senior Education Officials from the Region who were also present to examine the barriers to quality education delivery; discuss the implementation of the CARICOM Human Resource Development (HRD) Strategy and address the need for active leadership in the Region.

When it comes to the matter of obesity amongst school-aged children in Guyana, the Pan- American Health Organisation/World Health Organisation (PAHO/WHO), in 2007 stated that the obesity rate among school-going adolescents in Guyanese ages 13-15 was 4.1 per cent.
The CARICOM Secretary-General also identified inadequate exercise in the Region as a contributor to the reality.

Meanwhile, on the issue of school-based violence, La Roque said that the same has not been decreasing over the years. He stated that CARICOM heads in the field of education must not take lightly the establishment of safe and healthy school environments, as this will affect the reception of education by children and ultimately their trajectory in life.
“Data on school-based violence in the Caribbean have revealed increasing incidences of violence in both primary and secondary schools. School-based violence has been associated with poor attendance, decline in performance, high drop-out levels and decreased academic achievement,” he said

“Establishing safe and healthy schools is being advanced as a means to address violence in schools. Safe schools promote the protection of students from violence, exposure to weapons and threats, theft, bullying, and the sale and use of illegal substances on school grounds.” He said further that poor employment opportunities, crime and violence – which ultimately impact the sustainable development of the Region – can be traced back to low education attainment.
According to the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) 2012 Caribbean Human Development Report on Citizen Security, 80 per cent of prosecuted crimes were committed by youth 19 to 29 years old. Just in August 2019, some 50 stakeholders in Guyana met at a two-day forum titled ‘National Consultation to Agree on a Crime and Violence Prevention and Mitigation’ to craft an action plan to tackle crime and violence in primary schools.

The programme was funded by the European Union (EU) as a component of the 10th European Development Fund Crime and Violence Prevention and Social Development Project and was the fifth consultation to be held across five Caribbean countries. Consultations were also held in Antigua and Barbuda, Jamaica, Saint Lucia and Suriname.
The Secretary-General said that three complementary strategies are being implemented to address the challenge and the COHSOD meeting will examine these as a means to strengthen the social and life skills among students, their peers and families.