Government

Continued Benefits For Ministry’s One Family Programme

Government’s One Family Programme continues to positively impact the lives of many of its clients, through an arrangement that allows families, especially those who left school without certification, a second chance at education.

This revelation came last Saturday as Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, spoke to media representatives at the Drug Education and Counselling Services (DECS) Headquarters at Roebuck Street, St. Michael, about the successful partnership the One Family Programme has with DECS and the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust.

Lauding the Trust, which was instrumental in obtaining the DECS Roebuck Street facility, he referred to it as “a charity par excellence” and said of the programme with DECS: “One of the things we realised with the One Family Programme is that a number of our clients needed this additional support…. This is a wonderful marriage. This is what you needed, and this is what you provide.”

Mr. Humphrey outlined how clients were benefiting. He stated: “We are beginning with 309 of our clients. We have 141 who will be doing CXCs (Caribbean Examination Council) and that’s a nine-month course. We have 139 who will be doing Skills Programmes – that’s about three months. And then we have 29 who are pursuing remedial courses and that would be for about six months. That work will allow our clients, then, to have the capacity to make a vital contribution to Barbados. That’s all we want at the end of the day.”

The Minister also alluded to the fact that the goal of the One Family Programme was being exceeded. He said: “When we started the One Family Programme, the idea was that we would take 1,000 most vulnerable families in the first instance, and then as time progressed, we would take another 1,000, and then another 1,000 until we were able to reach all.

“Of course, we did not account for the exponential growth, where if we take a thousand and some of those persons then go out and change some lives, or we were able to bring on more and more community groups, whether they are local NGOs or bigger NGOs and they change some lives, then you have an exponential growth and you’re able to have an even wider impact. And I think that is what we are now experiencing on the programme.”

Mr. Humphrey; members of the One Family team; Grand Patron of the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust, Derrick Smith; and Trustee Pippa Challis toured the classrooms and other facilities.

Speaking to members of the Trust, the Minister said: “We want to thank you for your partnership with the One Family Programme that up to now is well over $200,000 and continues to grow…. This is what Barbados needs, the capacity and the opportunity for all of us…to come together to do something transformative for the island…. If we could have this programme replicated all over Barbados, what a difference we are going to make!”

Meanwhile Chairman of DECS, Roger Husbands, said the Second Chance Lessons Programme was launched many years ago out of necessity. “We’ve realised that adults are also in need of a second chance at education. Most of these young people dropped out of school and left without education. We realised that we needed to give young people skills so that they can go out and be entrepreneurs,” Mr. Husbands stated.

Trustee of the Sandy Lane Charitable Trust, Pippa Challis, stated they were pleased to continue supporting DECS’ work and helping families improve their circumstances. “We are not giving them the fish. We need to teach families and the parents to be able to provide for their children. That’s why we love the One Family Programme. The fact that we’ve been able to bring two entities together in the DECS building…the two of you together, we are going to win; the island is going to win.”

At the event, there was also the official opening of the Julian Sacher Computer Lab – in honour of Mr. Sacher, a trustee and early supporter of the DECS’ work, who died last year. (PR/GIS)

Caption: Chairman of Drug Education and Counselling Services, Roger Husbands, making a presentation to Minister of People Empowerment and Elder Affairs, Kirk Humphrey, at the media event last Saturday.

Government

UTT Students In Barbados For Study Tour

Students pursuing the Master’s programmes in Innovation, Manufacturing, Management and Entrepreneurship as well as Innovative Design and Entrepreneurship at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) are currently on island for a study tour.

The tour is being done in collaboration with the Ministries of Innovation, Science and Technology; Energy and Business; and Training and Tertiary Education.

Speaking yesterday while visiting a local business, Assistant Professor of the Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship Units at UTT, Dr. Jorrel Bisnath, explained that the students participating in these specific areas were chosen because the university and the Government of Trinidad and Tobago have recognised them as being critical for sustainable development.

According to Dr. Bisnath, the UTT hopes that initiatives like the study tour will expose the students to the best of professional business practices while simultaneously helping them to mature in a very short space of time, since they are being exposed to over 12 companies.

“Every year, we identify a regional economy that is of value or in alignment with our objectives, within the programme, which is to support manufacturing, entrepreneurship and innovation, and our students are expected to identify what best practices take place in these economies, … compare them to Trinidad and Tobago, [and] look for opportunities for integration, development, adoption and also growth,” he stated.

He added that this type of exposure allows the students to exercise their corporate skills and professional expectations and also helps them to easily integrate into regional work environments.

“We know that for us as a region to progress we must develop these inherent talents… and in viewing and visiting the companies that we’ve been exposed to here, I think it would have been apparent that we are doing so many things very well, but they’re also quite well kept secrets.

“We went to Lenstec today, which is a world class manufacturing facility right here in Barbados. We went to McBrides, who is a leading distributor of aerosols across the region and delving into North America as well… and all of these companies have told us that Barbados is not a manufacturing economy.”

The UTT professor noted that although countries like Trinidad and Barbados are producing ‘world class outputs with limited resources’, there is a struggle in trying to achieve specific goals, even though there is an input of work because there is also a lack of sharing and collaboration.

“I think opportunities like this really open our eyes and exposes our students to what the possibility is for them and how they can contribute… and to be afforded the support that the Government of Barbados has provided, I think has gone a long way to help with that integration and our development, so we are truly grateful.

Minister of Training and Tertiary Education, Sandra Husbands, acknowledged that Trinidad has been leading the region in manufacturing, setting the example for Barbados, but added: “We do not have to buy somebody else’s property; we can produce a quality product here.”

She continued: “Barbados is following suit. We have just started to do some investment in an international food centre to help us to begin to do the Agro-processing that we need to do, and to be able to encourage our small innovators to begin to think big and to think in terms of export.”

The Minister revealed that her Ministry will be opening the Agricultural Institute in Hope, St. Lucy, to be able to help the country to build its skills in agriculture, especially within a climate challenged environment.

“We’ve seen the impact, … but we want to go further than just simply produce food for immediate consumption as is, but to be able to lay the foundation for Agro-processing and to be able to start producing products. I firmly believe that if we are going to deal with the NCDs that plague our region, and especially in Barbados, I know they don’t have it quite as much in the other islands, but we definitely have a problem here.

“We have to look at our domestic foods and look at how we can produce a new family line of snacks that are healthy and that are attractive…. I think if we could actually create some type of product that is healthy, I believe that we can make a tremendous difference. So, I really, truly welcome having you here, and I trust that for you, this particular experience here in Barbados will empower and energise you. I’ll be looking to see you producing things in the future and offering yourselves, across the region to help us build capacity,” she told the visiting students. (PR/GIS)

Caption: Minister of Training and Tertiary Education, Sandra Husbands, and officials pose for a photograph with Assistant Professor of the Mechanical Engineering, Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship Units at the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT), Dr. Jorrel Bisnath (third from left), and students, during a visit to a local business

Government

Nominations Invited For Pride Of Barbados Award – St. Philip

Barbadians at home and abroad are invited to submit nominations for the Pride of Barbados Award 2025 for the parish of St. Philip, to the National Honours and Decorations Advisory Council, by Monday, June 30.

Nominations for the parish of St. Philip should be made via the links:

https://eforms.gov.bb/sc/prideofbarbadosaward – Pride of Barbados Award Portal
https://eforms.gov.bb/f/pbaStPhilip – Nomination Form – St. Philip.

Persons submitting biographical data for the individual being nominated are encouraged to follow the suggested format by viewing this template.

Section 19 of the Barbados National Honours and Decorations Act 2021 states the award of The Pride of Barbados may be conferred by the President in accordance with the Awardof Pride of Barbados Act, 2019(Act 2019-52).

The Pride of Barbados Award is given to a person who is a citizen of Barbados or entitled to be registered as a citizen, or a permanent resident, and through sacrifice, diligence, and dedication to service has made an outstanding contribution to community life in a parish, or to the improvement of economic and social conditions in a parish.

These awards shall be conferred on persons who reside in a parish in Barbados and have been nominated by persons who live in the respective parish.

They shall also be conferred on persons who formerly resided in a parish in Barbados but now reside abroad, and who are nominated by persons who reside in the parish or used to reside in the parish but now live overseas. (PR/GIS)