Thirty third-formers at Charlie Smith High School are benefiting from a skills training programme called ‘Agents for Transformation’ which is aimed at assisting students in conflict resolution and lessening domestic violence.

The programme got under way last August and is expected to run for seven months, ending in March next year. It is intended to provide life skills training, counselling and afternoon academic support to at-risk youths to lessen domestic violence in and around the Trench Town area in St Andrew.

Speaking at the project launch yesterday (December 2), Opposition Leader Mark Golding, the member of parliament for the South St Andrew constituency in which the school is located, said: “We are in a community where there is tremendous human potential. It’s a great community but it’s a community that had more than its fair share of challenges as well.”

He further said: “It’s really a project to help some young people who need the kind of inputs that will round them off into a positive direction and help them cope in life in a constructive way.”

The project is a partnership between the USAID Local Partner Development, Sterling Asset Management Limited, FHI360 and Joy Town Community Development Foundation.

According to a Trench Town community report, conducted by the Planning Institute of Jamaica (PIOJ) in 2020, there is a high percentage of locals in Trench Town who are either underpaid or have low paying jobs. The report indicates that this is the reality for 63 per cent of persons within the Trench Town population.

As such, under this project, these organisations are aiming to provide an opportunity for change for the next generation of young people in Trench Town.

Marona Smodlaka Krajnovic, chief of party at the USAID Local Partner Development, said: “We believe in science and evidence. That evidence tells us that, contrary to popular beliefs, strict punishment does not produce results. So, what this programme is going to look like, it’s going to look into understanding that young people just need someone to stand in their corner, to be their support. And that support is coming from Joy Town, Sterling Asset Management, the community, teachers and mentors.”

Richard Williams, a student who is benefiting from the ‘Agents for Transformation’ project, said he was very grateful for the opportunity, as this would allow him to gain valuable skills and certifications.

Kennedy Davidson, assistant chief education officer at the Ministry of Education and Youth, said that “the ministry is in agreement with projects such as this where there are multiple avenues and opportunities to reduce the number of children falling through the cracks”.

She noted: “Our teenagers need to realize there is hope and that they can truly make a positive difference.”

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