By Ketricia Finch
St. Kitts Reporter
While in Venezuela, Prime Minister Douglas touched on human resource development and Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has agreed that he would provide the necessary training, especially in the area of technical vocational training for young people.
“We believe that the work experience program that we introduced in 1995 can be taken to a different level. We have requested assistance in restarting a renewed work experience program, where our young people who are unemployed would be able to receive a contribution so they could make their own purchases so they could learn their technical vocational skills, refrigeration, air conditioning, repairs of small motos, carpentry, masonery and beauition.”
Douglas said the programs of training are relatively short programs. He advised young people to get a skill that would be necessary to fuel and to drive the transformation that is taking place in the economy as the country moves from sugar agriculture into services.
The prime minister revealed that they touched on the human resource thrust in St. Kitts and Nevis again in Cuba.
“We got 15 medical doctors coming out of Cuba last year. We said to the vice president in discussions that we need to take our medical support program to a different level. It is good for you to have your specialists coming to St. Kitts to work but now you need to training in your institutions, specialist doctors who would have graduated from your system.”
Douglas said the Cuban vice president has agreed to provide post-graduate training in orthopedics, opthalmology, pathology, physiotherapy and radiology.
“In these areas, we would be able to have spaces in the institutions in Cuba so that they could persue post-graduate training and become specialist doctors.”
Douglas said the pride and the joy of the visit to Cuba was a resounding reunion with the 27 female students who are doing nursing.
“The highlight really of that visit was to speak with them and to hear these people speak to me in Spanish and they have only been there for a few months!”
Douglas said he become alert from that experience and is certain that young people can in fact be transformed into active and productive citizens if they would only be given the support. He also said he told the vice president of Cuba that he should provide him with more opportunities for the young people of St. Kitts and Nevis.
“Not only more going into nursing at different levels, but also the support for the technical vocational skills that our young people need to acquire if they are going to make a contribution in this new society that we are trying to create,” Douglas stated.
Douglas said the Federation has gotten full support from the vice president of Cuba for this regard.
Douglas also said in regarding to the work experience program funding that they did a presentation to the president that it would have to be supported in two ways, in the form of a stipen and in the form of acquiring a skill and the president agreed to that.
