|
Youth groups need access to school premises
Thursday, June 8, 2006
Hon Alden McLaughlin fields questions and
comments from approximately 100 persons attending
Youth Forum on 2 June
After a plea to Hon Alden McLaughlin, from the floor of the 2 June Youth Forum, concerning the "red tape" and the difficulty youth groups have with obtaining use of school buildings after school hours, Mr McLaughlin - Minister of Education, Training, Employment, Youth, Sports and Culture - said, "Yes," we have to make better use of these buildings.
Fielding questions and comments from some 100 young people and Youth personnel in the Mary Miller Hall in that two-hour session, Mr McLaughlin, on the matter of school buildings, acknowledged schools provided the best option.
"Yes, we can't afford to have a purpose-built structure for every activity," said the Minister.
Mr Ed Gibson - closely associated with Youth-related activities for many years - had raised the issue of youth groups finding it difficult to locate places for meetings and the equal difficulty with obtaining the use of school buildings after hours.
Mr Gibson also spoke specifically about the new school buildings that are being planned for completion in 2008.
"Please make school halls available for meetings. Are they (the new buildings) going to be available for us to use?" he asked Mr McLaughlin.
Mr Gibson, and other contributors, said that Cayman was a leader amongst its regional neighbours in the area of educational and sporting facilities for school children.
However, the problem was that full use was not being made of them.
"I drive by them all the time and you can only see a cat probably crossing the grounds after a certain hour," said Mr Gibson.
In response Mr McLaughlin said that he had had the opportunity to travel to other territories and view their facilities and, as such, he agreed with the comments about Cayman's facilities. "We have more and better facilities, bar none," he said. "What we haven't yet figured out is why our young people are alienated and a lot of them are feeling marginalised and are uninterested in things that should interest them.
"Older people can't figure out why young people are not taking advantage of opportunities."
Mr McLaughlin said that it did not matter how well he performed as Minister, if he was not able to orchestrate a "buy-in" from young people into changing their lives for the better.
After the subject of the use of school facilities was raised at the Youth forum, Cayman Net News investigated the matter further.
On 5 June an unnamed source in the Islands' Education system explained that in order for groups to use school buildings "they must complete a form, stating the purpose for which they need the facility. A rental fee is charged in these instances."
Another source said "Some people view the process as bureaucratic and difficult because there is usually some delay in relation to the date the facility is needed. As well, some places like youth clubs, when they ask for our facilities, are not usually able to pay the required rental figure.
"Additionally, even if there is the prospect of change to this process, there may be resistance from persons in the system because, change would mean that cleaning times for the buildings, security working hours and other such matters would have to be addressed."
Speaking directly with Net News on the matter, Mr McLaughlin acknowledged some difficulties.
"Yes, the administration is concerned about security for the premises. Clean up times after use, and having everything ready for the following morning are issues," he said. "But I don't think those issues are beyond resolution. I don't think those issues should prevent maximum use of our facilities."
Back...
|
