PRIME Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar, in her message to observe UN World Youth Skills Day, said the Government is committed to empowering young people.

This is a statement that must be commended as this Government has shown that it is serious about giving youths a fighting chance to succeed. Her move to increase the legal drinking age to 21 years and the legal age to use marijuana and to engage in gambling to 25 years shows her determination to ensure that youths could maximise all their opportunities.

I have seen commentators say that this move is not important at this time; that there are more burning issues at hand, such as crime and the economy; however, I ask: why must policy-­making be done in isolation? This measure would feed into an all-inclusive drive to bolster our society as you cannot achieve the goal of economic growth and diversification without skilled people to drive this growth.

The Prime Minister noted the theme of this year’s event was youth empowerment through artificial intelligence (AI) and digital skills. She noted the Government has begun to implement this initiative “by establishing the Ministry of Public Administration and Artificial Intelligence to drive innova­tion across governance, education, and the economy”. The reinstatement of the schools’ laptop programme, which ensures every Form One student receives a laptop, is another effort to advance “digital inclusion, opportunity and equity”.

If one examines where the world is going with regard to AI and digitisation, this is indeed a good move. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg last week said they plan to invest “hundreds of billions of dollars” into artificial intelligence computer infrastructure. The company plans to bring its first supercluster, Prometheus, online next year. Companies like OpenAI and the role of AI in technology giants like Google and Microsoft has shown that this is the way of the future.

Youths in Trinidad and Tobago cannot be left behind. The Government is on the right track to empower and equip them to succeed in the global space.

Ricardo Jimenez

Diego Martin



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