Commonwealth Youth Representatives Call on High Commissioner

Jamaica’s two Commonwealth youth representatives, Kerion Williams and Dianne Francis ended a brief visit to London with a call on High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, His Excellency Burchell Whiteman, on March 13.
The two 18 year olds who represented Jamaica at the official activities in London on Monday (March 12), to mark Commonwealth Day, presented the High Commissioner with a copy of the island’s National Youth Policy.
Both told JIS News that they were very proud to represent Jamaica at such an important international event.
Kerion, a student of the Montego Bay Community College and Dianne, an upper sixth former at St. Hugh’s High School in Kingston, were chosen as the country’s Commonwealth Youth representatives, following a rigorous test and interview process. They were both participants in Jamaica’s Youth Parliament, organised by the National Centre for Youth Development, where Dianne was the Deputy Speaker and Kerion was Leader of the Opposition.
“We were short listed based on our participation in the Youth Parliament. We had to go through a long interview process, write a message and sit a test. It was very rigorous,” Dianne said.
On their return to Jamaica, the representatives will have to share their experiences with other young people in schools and youth groups.
“It has been a very good learning experience. We met with a number of Members of Parliament in the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and with Commonwealth Secretary General, Mr. (Don) McKinnon and were able to compare the differences in the structure of the British Parliament with ours,” Kerion said.
They also used the opportunity to market Jamaica, to speak about the tourism product, the education system and the people and also found time to do a bit of sightseeing.
Dianne, who will sit her CAPE examinations in a few months, hopes to pursue a career in Politics and plans to study Political Science and International Relations at university. Kerion, who is interested in a career in Mass Communication, is currently studying for an Associate Degree in Humanities, which include courses in Geography, Law and Sociology.