That inter-generational contract

That inter-generational contract made between society and the youth of today has once again paid dividends.

Last Friday and again today, we feature students who have won national awards, based on exemplary performances in the May/June 2017 Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examination (CAPE).

The contract made with society by these students came into force on the very first day they entered primary school. Their educational journeys were funded to greater or lesser extents by the taxpayers of this country, even in the case of those who may have gone to a private school somewhere along the way.

The students, in turn, committed to making the most of the educational opportunities offered by our school system, in order to maximize self-growth and personal enrichment.

The results of this batch of students in the recent CAPE exams is an indication that they have been keeping their side of the bargain, and based on their outstanding performances, our nation will further its investment in them to facilitate their university education. We congratulate them and remind them that in turn, they must give back.

They must honour the contract and our investment in them by continuing to excel. They must also address their minds to how best they can contribute to the development of our nation state.

We encourage them to think outside of the box when choosing their areas of study. These scholarships are granted at the expense of many other pressing needs in our country and the recipients should place a value on them which reflects this.

The scholarships are this nation’s greatest capital investment in our future.

These students will be among those whose responsibility it will be to deal with the intractable problems of the future. Violent crime, unemployment, hunger, cancer and other non-communicable diseases, growing disease resistant crops, climate change mitigation, designing and implementing alternative energy sources will certainly be among the problems for which solutions must be found.

The capacity to deal with these issues and many more is within the capability of these scholars. As they and others move on to another phase of their development, we wish them God speed.