52
Youth Preparedness
Factors associated with lack of youth preparedness include the following: irrelevant education,
lack of participation in governance and decisionmaking and disempowerment.
Irrelevant Education
Policymaker and senior official Y1 expressed her
disappointment with the education system:
We have a vibrant education policy that is rightsbased and is based on the concept of inclusive education for all. However, there is no national climate
change policy in place. Climate change Education
is not included in the education system, so there is
no mechanism in place to enable youth to build
resilience to adapt to climate change.
Youth are of the view that the education they
received does not prepare them with the necessary skills and knowledge to build their resilience
to adapt to the impact of climate change and create sustainable livelihoods. A young man from
FGD X1 said:
No, no, no, we are not satisfied with the level of
skills and knowledge provided to us in the schools
and colleges. We are not given the necessary skills,
which will enable us to adapt to the impact of climate change. Climate Change is not included in
our syllabus. We do not have any policy on Climate
Change (Nah nah nah ahwe nah satisfy wid de
levvo af skill and trainin ahwe ah get in skool.
Ahwe nah geh enuff skill fuh adap to climate
change. Ahwe nah ge no trainin bowt climate
change inah skool. Ahwe nah geh eney palicee a
climate change).
The issue of irrelevant education was viewed
as the primary development challenge facing
youth to build resilience to adapt to climate
change in communities in SVG. This issue generated the most discussions among policymakers
during the interviews. Most policymakers and
senior officials were very passionate about the
issue and promised to influence the government
to take urgent actions to integrate climate change
education in the curriculum. Policymakers possess a similar view to UNESCO (2014) on climate change education, i.e. focussing on
preparing people to plan for, cope with and find
solutions for issues that threaten the sustainability of the island rather than knowing basic trivia.
When asked why actions have not been taken
earlier to integrate climate change education in
the school curriculum, they responded that
although they are conscious of the gaps in the
education system, they emphasised the high cost
to implement this and claimed that the government lacked the financial and technical expertise
to execute such actions.
All policymakers and senior officials recognised the “mismatch” between the skills and
knowledge provided by the education system and
those that are required by the job market. Over
two-thirds of policymakers and senior officials
said the issue is worse than just basically matching the skills provided by the education curriculum with that required by the job market. There
are two fundamental issues for consideration: (1)
the overconsumption of some expertise in the
workplace and (2) persons who are trained at the
tertiary level but cannot function in the workplace. They observed that there are many people
with a certification of technical skills and good
degrees from reputable institutions who cannot
work effectively in the context of SIDS. Most
were trained outside of the Caribbean region, and
thus, the skill set they acquired within their specific fields is not relevant in SIDS. They cogently
acknowledged that the government must take
urgent actions to work with all stakeholders to
mobilise the necessary finances and technical
assistance to integrate climate change education
into the school curriculum.
Youth have a more simplistic view of climate
change education. While supporting the integration of climate change in the curriculum, youth
believe that education than taught education
should enable them to acquire appropriate skills
and knowledge to prepare them to respond to
natural disasters, sustain existing livelihoods and
create new and emerging livelihoods. Youth discussed the views on the mismatch in skills provided through the education system and those
required in the workplace and market. Youth
involved in TVET education and colleges said
that they are pursuing training in either electrical
3 Implementation of the Conceptual Framework for Youth Adaption in Climate Change on SIDS
Youth Preparedness
Factors associated with lack of youth preparedness include the following: irrelevant education,
lack of participation in governance and decisionmaking and disempowerment.
Irrelevant Education
Policymaker and senior official Y1 expressed her
disappointment with the education system:
We have a vibrant education policy that is rightsbased and is based on the concept of inclusive education for all. However, there is no national climate
change policy in place. Climate change Education
is not included in the education system, so there is
no mechanism in place to enable youth to build
resilience to adapt to climate change.
Youth are of the view that the education they
received does not prepare them with the necessary skills and knowledge to build their resilience
to adapt to the impact of climate change and create sustainable livelihoods. A young man from
FGD X1 said:
No, no, no, we are not satisfied with the level of
skills and knowledge provided to us in the schools
and colleges. We are not given the necessary skills,
which will enable us to adapt to the impact of climate change. Climate Change is not included in
our syllabus. We do not have any policy on Climate
Change (Nah nah nah ahwe nah satisfy wid de
levvo af skill and trainin ahwe ah get in skool.
Ahwe nah geh enuff skill fuh adap to climate
change. Ahwe nah ge no trainin bowt climate
change inah skool. Ahwe nah geh eney palicee a
climate change).
The issue of irrelevant education was viewed
as the primary development challenge facing
youth to build resilience to adapt to climate
change in communities in SVG. This issue generated the most discussions among policymakers
during the interviews. Most policymakers and
senior officials were very passionate about the
issue and promised to influence the government
to take urgent actions to integrate climate change
education in the curriculum. Policymakers possess a similar view to UNESCO (2014) on climate change education, i.e. focussing on
preparing people to plan for, cope with and find
solutions for issues that threaten the sustainability of the island rather than knowing basic trivia.
When asked why actions have not been taken
earlier to integrate climate change education in
the school curriculum, they responded that
although they are conscious of the gaps in the
education system, they emphasised the high cost
to implement this and claimed that the government lacked the financial and technical expertise
to execute such actions.
All policymakers and senior officials recognised the “mismatch” between the skills and
knowledge provided by the education system and
those that are required by the job market. Over
two-thirds of policymakers and senior officials
said the issue is worse than just basically matching the skills provided by the education curriculum with that required by the job market. There
are two fundamental issues for consideration: (1)
the overconsumption of some expertise in the
workplace and (2) persons who are trained at the
tertiary level but cannot function in the workplace. They observed that there are many people
with a certification of technical skills and good
degrees from reputable institutions who cannot
work effectively in the context of SIDS. Most
were trained outside of the Caribbean region, and
thus, the skill set they acquired within their specific fields is not relevant in SIDS. They cogently
acknowledged that the government must take
urgent actions to work with all stakeholders to
mobilise the necessary finances and technical
assistance to integrate climate change education
into the school curriculum.
Youth have a more simplistic view of climate
change education. While supporting the integration of climate change in the curriculum, youth
believe that education than taught education
should enable them to acquire appropriate skills
and knowledge to prepare them to respond to
natural disasters, sustain existing livelihoods and
create new and emerging livelihoods. Youth discussed the views on the mismatch in skills provided through the education system and those
required in the workplace and market. Youth
involved in TVET education and colleges said
that they are pursuing training in either electrical
3 Implementation of the Conceptual Framework for Youth Adaption in Climate Change on SIDS