The Parliament's School Outreach Programme kicked off earlier this week at Queen's Royal College in St Clair with a lecture by Speaker of the House Wade Mark.The lecture, which was held in the school's hall on Wednesday, was the first of a series of school tours aimed at raising awareness of the role of the Parliament. Students from Forms Four, Five and Six were invited to the event.
In his address, Mark told the students present he knew a lecture on democracy would not seem as interesting chatting on Facebook or playing the latest video game. Nonetheless, he said, it was important that students grasp the role of Parliament in fostering social order.
He said T&T's independent Parliament was very young compared to countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia that had enjoyed centuries of parliamentary history. In the Caribbean, he added, parliamentary democracy had served as a "shock absorber" for many social tensions.He used as examples the Grenada Revolution of 1983 and the 1990 attempted coup in T&T, adding that they were a "powerful reminder to be always vigilant in safeguarding and protecting our democracy."
Mark also told students a modern parliament needed to be representative, transparent, accessible, accountable and effective.At several points during his speech, he said the Parliament sought to engage the public in its activities through programming content on the Parliament Channel.
"Let us be honest...Many citizens remain indifferent to what takes place in Parliament every Tuesday and Friday afternoon," he said."For young people like you, it's even more of a challenge to encourage and sustain this interest."He urged students to access the Parliament's Facebook page, its Twitter account–@TTParliament–and its Web site–www.ttparliament.org-
The boys also watched a short but engaging video presentation on the three arms of state, the role of parliament as well as the past and present opposition leaders, prime ministers and president of T&T.
