Senior Reporter
shane.superville@guardian.co.tt
Minister of Health Terrence Deyalsingh says he feels confident about the opportunities made available for young people in the 2024 Budget.
Deyalsingh made the remarks in response to concerns from students of Hillview College, Tunapuna, during a post-Budget forum for secondary school students.
Deyalsingh, together with Minister of Communications Symon De Nobriga, AMCHAM CEO Nirad Tewarie, T&T Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative chairman Gregory McGuire and economist Indera Sagewan, formed part of a panel which fielded questions from students.
In response to concerns over Trinidad and Tobago’s economic future, Deyalsingh said he was optimistic that employment and education opportunities for the youth were not under threat.
Referring to an increase in economic growth by 1.5 per cent observed in 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic, Deyalsingh said such figures were reassuring and showed that T&T was rebounding post-pandemic.
He noted that this growth was driven by the manufacturing sector and not oil and gas, as seen in previous years.
Deyalsingh urged the students not to be discouraged by exaggerated claims of “hard financial times” ahead and urged them to do their own research.
He also stressed that Generation Z—the age bracket of people born between the late 1990s to the early 2000s—had a significant advantage over others with their proficiency in technology.
“I want to impress upon you, that your generation, this Gen Z generation, you have in your hands the ability to shape mankind from now and into the next thousand years, opportunities that we never had.
“Your future is so bright that your job market is not Trinidad and Tobago again, it’s not Caricom, rather it’s the world,” Deyalsingh said.
“You have the machinery, by combining information technology, the internet, data mining, to shape mankind and to shape humankind for hundreds of years to come, the world is yours.”
Referring to social media and even some mainstream media reports, Deyalsingh stressed the need for students to critically analyse different pieces of information while comparing and contrasting points in order to come to a reasonable conclusion.
During his response to questions, AMCHAM CEO Tewarie said while he hoped young people would remain in T&T instead of migrating to seek employment opportunities abroad, creating a safe, accommodating environment here was key to making that a reality.
He noted that profits generated from the energy sector should be funnelled into creating new ventures for the next generation.
“What are the opportunities we create for you all so that you want to stay here and feel like you have opportunities, as opposed to studying to try and leave at your first option because if you all leave, then there are very few of us left to build the country? But it is unreasonable to ask you all to stay if my generation is not creating the opportunities that would make it comfortable and make it safe,” he said.
Tewarie also noted that efforts should be made to ensure that social safety mechanisms allowed the vulnerable in society to improve their own lifestyles and warned that such mechanisms could entrench people further into poverty.
