More youths creating own jobs

Kelan Parris accepting his prize from Scout Leader Trevor Jones (right) while camp director Linton looks on. (Sharon Harding)

Thu, July 14, 2011 - 12:00 AM

MORE and more Barbadians, especially the youth, are beginning to see the value in entrepreneurship, according to chief executive officer of the Barbados Youth Business Trust (BYBT), Marcia Brandon.

“Many students are leaving university and coming to us saying, ‘I want to start a business.’ They have not actually gone out there to find a job but their first thought is to start a business,” she said.

Brandon was delivering an address at last Saturday’s prize-giving ceremony of the Making Entrepreneurship Natural camp at the Barbados Boy Scouts Association.

She explained that 15 years ago when the BYBT was started, parents were actually discouraging their children from approaching the council for loans to start businesses, but in the past ten years parents had been bringing their children to get help.

“We have entered what is now known as the era of the entrepreneur.

“The world has become a global marketplace, jobs are scarce and we need to look at preparing our young people to become productive individuals with decent jobs and the ability to sustain our societies,” Brandon said.

She appealed to education planners to develop an education system with an environment in which young people “breathe” entrepreneurship.

“We need to start educating our young people and exposing them to the skills of innovative and critical thinking and how to transform their ideas into sustained, innovative enterprises,” she said.

The two-week camp was managed by Kevon Lord, a student in the master’s degree programme in project management and evaluation at University of the West Indies (Cave Hill) as part of the requirements for his degree programme.

Thirty scouts were given skills training, self-development and empowerment sessions as well as the opportunity to create a business project.

The programme was tailored in such a way that the scouts would learn about entrepreneurship and still qualify for their Do It Yourself maintenance and mechanics badges.

The prize for Best Patrol Leader went to Justin Lambert-Hunte, and the award for Most Disciplined Scout to Christopher Bramao. Diallo Sobers was adjudged the Most Focused Scout, while Kelan Parris was the Most Motivated Scout.

The prize for Best Patrol Project went to patrol group Dolphins Two for their Aqua City project. (LK)