GOVERNMENT DEPENDENCY MUST END – RUDDER
By Jenique Belgrave
Entrepreneurs must be willing to accept the risks of being a business owner and not look to the government for support, says Commissioner of the National Population Committee Pierce Boo Rudder.
“I believe that we have a misguided notion about what entrepreneurship is all about. Barbados is probably the only place in the world where people will tell you that they’re entrepreneurs, but expect the government to support them. As far as I’m aware, an entrepreneur is one who undertakes the management, as well as the risk involved with business, because in many ways, far too many people in our beautiful country are risk-averse, and they’re afraid to take chances,” he said.
Speaking as part of the panel at Monday evening’s National Population Commission Town Hall Meeting at the Alexandra School in Speightstown, he said the structure of the school system only speaks on how to get certificates and go to work for an already established business in the public or private sector, rather than how to start one.
“I believe that the problem lies in the fact that a significant number of young people have not acquired the type of training, which will give them the drive and the strength to venture into other areas,” he contended, adding that he did not believe that there is a lack of job opportunities in this country for young people.
He therefore insisted that any educational reform that occurs now, must also look towards changing attitudes.
“A significant part of our educational reform has to do with attitudinal change, which is always very difficult,” Rudder said as he responded to questions regarding reasons for the falling rate of youth in the Barbadian workforce.
Earlier in the discussion, Chairman of the Committee Roberta Clarke outlined that the number of working youth declined by the “extreme amount” of over 50 per cent between 1995 and 2017.
“We are also seeing that a significant per cent of the young people are not in employment, not in education, not in training, and that is like 18 per cent. That suggests that we have a significant number of young people who can be engaged and supported to be engaged in either employment education or training,” she indicated.
She said that several of the recommendations made in the population policy include: education reform, encouraging the youth back into either formal, technical or vocational education and ensuring there were more job opportunities either in companies or through entrepreneurship.
In addition, Clarke pointed out that with this island having one of the highest rates of emigration, with some newer statistics suggesting that 30 per cent of Barbadians are living abroad, it is critical to look at encouraging those here to stay and getting those who have left to come back, if not on a permanent basis, at least temporarily.
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