Basseterre, St. Kitts, February 15, 2020 (SKNIS): Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education and Youth, the Honourable Shawn Richards, encouraged over 200 young persons who attended the 2nd Annual National Consultation on Youth on February 14, 2020, to seize the advantages of their adolescence years to get a firm foundation.
In addressing the student population, Minister Richards advised them to focus on their education.
“You are having the easiest time of your life. You are getting a free education; your parents still have the responsibility for you, and your teachers are trying their very best. Take advantage of the education that you are now receiving,” said Deputy Prime Minister Richards. “All of the other things in life that you would like to have, once you take advantage of that education, you will be able to achieve all of those other things. Essentially, at this point in life concentrate on your education. Everything else will come after.”
Minister Richards also encouraged persons who are not students to make the best of every opportunity.
“To those of you who are not students, of course, you are going to have various experiences in life. You are going to have various opportunities in life, take advantage of all of them,” he said.
He noted life may not always greet them [young people] with their expectations and encouraged them to never give up.
“The experiences at the end of the day, hopefully, they will lead you to that place in life where you want to be and you will be able to say thank God, I have been able to have this particular experience,” he said.
The National Consultation on Youth is an interactive forum designed to promote direct dialogue between policymakers and the nation’s youth, to update on government policies, solicit feedback and express the hopes and dreams of the youth.
