Secondary school students have the opportunity to be educated in cutting edge and new, emerging careers.
And they will do this as they undertake a two-day virtual workshop entitled Careers of the Future 2022 Students’ Conference, where students will get the opportunity to interface with 21 speakers.
Chief Education Officer Dr Ramona Archer-Bradshaw delivered remarks this morning before the conference got under way.
The youth development initiative was conceptualised by public relations specialist at Lyrical Lava PR, Christal Austin, and co-produced by founder of At Work Consultancy, Britney Sealy, and has been endorsed by the Ministry of Education, Technological and Vocational Training.
“We are trying to help the young people in the secondary schools to become congnisant of the new careers that are emerging. We’ve brought together a number of speakers who are actually practicing in these areas to give them insights into the blue economy, orange economy, green economy, biotech, aquaponics, 3D printing, virtual reality, animation, and those other creative sectors that are what you will call cutting edge.
“There is no lawyer or doctor on these sessions. These are all people in areas that are now emerging. We’ve also sought to ensure that these young people understand it is also equally important to be well rounded and to be good corporate citizens,” Austin said.
She said in addition to the sessions, they had invited presenters to better assist the students with subjects such as the importance of mental wellness in their daily lives – personally and professionally, human resilience which includes overcoming extreme challenges and circumstances like the COVID-19 pandemic, soft skills development which incorporates emotional intelligence, taking responsibility and initiative in their work, and being a competent team member and negotiating.
Austin added the sessions would be available on demand so that students who were unable to attend sessions over the two days will be able to access them at their leisure.
“It is all about helping them to be well-rounded individuals as they prepare for this world that they will inherit that includes all these jobs that are new, but when they get into the world of work it will be normal.
“Ideally, as we move forward and talk about education reform, this is where the rubber hits the roads, because even as teachers look for ways to see children with ideas on what is new and emerging, they then have the opportunity to visit the website and access the videos. It is not just about the two-day conference, but about the value added that the content we are producing can bring to help with the education reform thrust,” she said. (RA)
