─ Best Speaker- Arifa Ahsidally, Shadow Minister of Education
─ Best Debator, Jordan Kellman, Prime Minister
─ students commended on high quality of presentations, confidence demonstrated and research
─ second sitting of youth parliament will be held tomorrow, will see participation of University of Guyana students
DPI, Guyana, Wednesday, August 15, 2018
Secondary School students from across the country today participated in the first sitting of the fourth Youth Parliament in the National Assembly. After six hours of debate and rebuttals by both side of the House, the Government team was declared the winners.
Today’s proceedings saw students move the two motions presented by the government side. There was unanimous agreement on the need to augment efforts to combat climate change and for robust contributions to healthy eating policies.
The second half of the proceedings focused on motions moved by the Opposition side of the House. Those were the enhancement of the education system and Amendment to the Representation of the People Act to include youth participation.
Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry, in her role as the Chief Judge, commended the students on a job well done. “All of you did a fantastic job and I was pleased to see the high quality of your presentations and the confidence demonstrated by all of the speakers. I noted the passion and conviction in which you took the task and sought additional time in one instance to get your point over.”
Headteacher of the St. Ignatius Secondary, Yvette Archer, expressed delight in seeing the students represent their schools outstandingly. The headteacher encouraged other educators to involve their students in the initiative.
Also commending the students was Speaker of the National Assembly, Dr. Barton Scotland. “Listening to the arguments showed that everyone did some tremendous research and that is very commendable; it showed that the students were quite involved in their topics.”
After tallying the scores, the judges awarded Best Speaker to Arifa Ahsidally, who was the Shadow Minister of Education, while the Best Debator was conferred on the Prime Minister, Jordan Kellman.
The second sitting of the youth parliament will be held tomorrow and will see the participation of University of Guyana students.
Crystal Stoll
Image: Keno George
PHOTO CAPTION
KLG_8877- Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry
KLG_8510- Secondary School Students, from across Guyana participating in the 4th Youth Parliament, take a picture with Minister of Education, Nicolette Henry
Arifa Ahsidally– Best Speaker at the 4th Youth Parliament, Arifa Ahsidally, Shadow Minister of Education
Jordan Kellman- Best Debater at the 4th Youth Parliament, Jordan Kellman, Prime Minister
