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SBC2 - EDUCATION IN SMALL STATES


Left: Connétable John Refault, Jersey; Centre: Hon. Tara Rivers, Cayman Islands Right: Hon. James Netto, MP, Gibraltar


basis. Among the youth there is a lack of understanding regarding career opportunities which has fostered bad attitudes about the value of education, said Mr Nelson Hadley Cole Simons, Bermuda. Young people begin to perceive educational training as inconsequential because Commonwealth countries do not seem to have economic sectors that assist young people. Hon. Leonard Singer, MHK, Isle of Man, added this is quite prevalent in Small States whereby prospects are not fully expanded to provide necessary opportunities.


A solution in Small States was to fund small and micro-businesses that would provide productive skills to young people, said Connétable John Refault, Jersey. These skills


should be in line with the international market so that people can benefit from innovative opportunities across the world.


However, Mr Lealailepule Rimoni Aiafi, MP, Samoa, suggested that the education curriculum has to be reviewed as it does not match with the labour market.


Most qualifications attained are not in line with the job market and this contributes to high margins of youth unemployment in Small States. He also argued that appropriation programmes need to be put in place by the government to ensure that citizens have the relevant skills to fill employment opportunities that are available. The lack of numeracy and literacy skills obstruct young people in accessing jobs in the field of finance,


318 | The Parliamentarian | 2013: Issue Four


science and technology, energy, and engineering. Therefore, Parliaments have to press upon their respective education systems to provide for and maintain basic numeracy and literacy standards for school leavers. Hon. David Buffet, MLA, Norfolk Island, stated that labour policies need to be aligned to market policies in order to address the issue of unemployment embedded in Small States. Commonwealth nations share similar problems and with strong corporation and mutual understanding such maladies could be curbed.


Central to these impediments is widespread poverty and inequality in developing states, where progressive measures put in place have not sufficiently addressed these issues.


Poor education is a primary factor for such inequalities and labour policies have not created employment opportunities for disadvantaged groups.


The Speaker of Bermuda, Hon. Kenneth Howard Randolph Horton, JP, MP, recommended that the education curriculum should be structured in a manner that develops job creators as opposed to job seekers. In this regard, many opportunities would occur within various economic sectors.


Ms Rose emphasized that foreign companies seemed to wield strong


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