After several months of intense training, youth parliamentarians in St. Andrew’s will show off their debating skills today Thursday June 05th, 2008 at the second sitting of the St. Andrew’s Parish Youth Parliament, at the Grenville Secondary School at 4:30 pm.

 
The topic to be debated by the Youth Parliamentarians will be:
 
“Be it resolved, that persons attaining the age of eighteen should be made to be involved in compulsory community service”.
 
This Parish Youth Parliament is the second for 2008 following on the heels of the second Carriacou and Petite Martinique Youth Parliament during the month of April. Some fifteen youth will be directly involved in the debate acting in various capacities from Speaker of the House and Clerk of Parliament to Prime Minister and Opposition Leader.
 
Grenada remains one of a handful of Caribbean territories with an active Youth Parliament and remains a model for other countries in Youth Parliamentary procedure. The Grenada Youth Parliament allows youth to openly debate issues which directly impact them and help in the process of finding ways and means of dealing with these issues.
 
Parish Youth Parliaments have been held previously in each parish around the island and Minister of Youth Development Senator the Honorable Emmalin Pierre describes this activity as historic. The Minister of Youth Development, herself a product of the Youth Parliamentary system, stated that she continues to be impressed with the level of discussion by the various Youth Parliamentarians and will continue to encourage them to excel in this field.

Permanent Secretary on assignment to the Department of Youth Development, Mrs. Eunice Sandy David, said that the Department of Youth Developments Youth Parliament Programme is very important because of its overall objectives, which is to get young persons involved in parliamentary procedures and processes as well as help promote youth work in terms of representation and advocacy.
 
The debates are being conducted on a parish basis after which outstanding parliamentarians will move on to debate on a national level.
 
The general public is invited to his afternoon’s debate at the Grenville Secondary School.