GENERATION Z PROGRAMME LAUNCHED

A government programme designed to improve how adults engage with Generation Z is being expanded, as Minister of Training and Tertiary Education Sandra Husbands urged community leaders to rethink traditional approaches to youth engagement.

Speaking briefly at Tuesday’s Forum of Ideas for Youth Mentorship Village Builders breakfast meeting at the Lloyd Erskine Sandiford Centre, Husbands said the Village Builders initiative equips adults with the skills needed to better understand and relate to today’s young people.

“Village Builders is about teaching community workers, church workers, student give-back persons, how to engage the Gen Zs… how to relate to the young people of today,” she said.

Husbands stressed that the programme deliberately moves away from outdated, top-down methods of interaction.

“It’s not about talking at them and telling them what they can do and what they cannot do. You have to hook and engage,” she noted.

According to the minister, Village Builders focuses on innovative teaching and mentorship techniques that resonate with young people and foster meaningful connections. Participants are trained to use play-based and project-based learning strategies to create more engaging and motivating experiences for youth.

“In Village Builders, they’re taught how to use play-based learning, project-based learning, in order to have a stimulating and motivating experience for them,” Husbands said.

She explained that the emphasis is not solely on completing activities, but on the behaviours and values developed through participation.

“The focus is not on the outcome of the activity, the focus is on the emotional and social behaviours that they use to do the activity,” she explained.

These methods, Husbands added, help nurture young people by strengthening the values and social skills that support their overall development.

The minister also announced that another cohort of the Village Builders programme is scheduled to begin in February and encouraged interested individuals to register early. (PR/GIS)