NYCJ to elect new executive on Nov 17

The National Youth Council of Jamaica (NYCJ), which represents community youth groups across the country, will hold elections on Saturday to elect a new executive to lead the organisation.

This was disclosed by State Minister in the Ministry of Education, Youth and Information, Floyd Green, at the launch of the Volunteer Project Competition at Jamaica House Basic School.

“We’re going to be hosting an election to choose the executive of our National Youth Council, and that is the body that is in charge of all of our youth clubs – Youth leading youth – and that is happening this Saturday, [for the] first time in five years,” Green said.

The election is scheduled to be held at the DeCarteret College in Manchester.

The State Minister said the executive body is needed to guide youth and youth clubs across the island.

“We have allowed our youth club movement to die, and as such, the young people now look for purpose elsewhere, and they’re finding it. They’re finding their purpose, but not in ways that are beneficial to our society,” Green said.

He noted that the Education Ministry’s ‘Charge Up’ project was launched as the foundation to revive some youth clubs.

He added that youth club assistants have been appointed to revitalise the clubs across Jamaica.

“A part of what we are going to do is to say to each youth club that we revitalise, that you have to adopt an early-childhood institution (ECIs). We are going to be pairing our youth clubs with our ECIs across Jamaica, because, we believe, not only will that help our education system but it will speak to the intergenerational change that we need to see in Jamaica,” Green stated.