Students to Attend Youth Forum May 31

Scores of students are expected to participate in the upcoming Youth Forum, to be held on May 31 at the Scouts Headquarters on Camp Road, commencing at 10:00 a.m.
The forum, which is being hosted by the National Child Month Committee (NCMC), will focus on the theme for Child Month: ‘Instilling positive values, securing our children’s future’, with representatives from several schools overseeing the day’s agenda.
The event will also bring the curtain down on the month of activities organised by the NCMC.
Carla Edie, member of the NCMC and Co-ordinator of the Youth Forum told JIS News that a panel consisting of representatives from St. Jago, Excelsior, Charlie Smith and Bridgeport High Schools would headline the forum.
Each representative, she explained, would make a presentation on an aspect of the theme, such as the roles played by schools, parents, individuals and the community.
“Children will be doing everything that day. The Chairman will be from a separate school, likewise the moderator from another school and the vote of thanks will be done by another school,” she said.
Miss Edie said that the forum was a means to encourage the participation of the youth during the Child Month. “They too have a voice that needs to be heard,” she noted.
“We hope that the forum will yield a set of recommendations put forward by children and that they will influence policies relating to them,” Miss Edie added.
Dr. Pauline Mullings, Chairman of the NCMC will be on hand to bring greetings.
The first Child Month programme was organised in 1953 by the NCMC, which then comprised representatives from the Voluntary Organisation for the Upliftment of Children (VOUCH) and Jamaica Save the Children Fund.
The Committee has since expanded to include representatives of government and non-governmental institutions, working in the interest of the children of Jamaica.