The following are exerpts of Edward Seaga's recent address to the G2K Youth Forum.
"YOUNG PEOPLE are agents, beneficiaries and victims of change. As vanguards of change they set trends in music, fashion and overall lifestyles. They make records and break them in athletics. Young people determine directions in education and the response of the market place. Young people play a primary role in designing the future.
"Yet the future world, as envisaged by young people, is often times distorted by forces outside their control. The real world and real future is basically a static order resistant to change. It is when the irresistible force of youth meets the immovable object of the existing order that this clash of subcultures create dynamic change.
"It was not the mighty armies of the NATO powers that demolished the Berlin Wall. It was not the reasoned arguments or fervent expositions of ideology that created the crash. These were dynamic forces which softened up the structure but did not bring down the wall. It was the power of a vision whose time had come to open the door to a new way of life which promised individual freedom and material prosperity.
"The over-arching reach of satellite telecommunications unveiled this new culture to those behind the Iron Curtain and young people seeing the New Jerusalem wanted to cross over. The irresistible force of culture-driven youth over-powered the unmoveable object of a static, oppressive state and the wall came tumbling down.
"Young people in Jamaica have been a vanguard too. It is their talents and achievements which created the infectious rhythm of a new music - reggae - positioning this tiny country at the forefront along with the musical giants.
"It is young people who made records and broke them in international competitions and hoisted the Jamaican flag in international arenas.
"Without these signal achievement of youth, Jamaica would be known internationally as an island located somewhere in the Caribbean Sea, near Cuba, where tourists go to sun themselves.
"The young people of Jamaica made Jamaica truly more than a beach, a household name in many corners of the world. We are proud of the young Jamaicans who made a great international success of themselves and their country.
"But we must ask the question, who are these champions? Surprisingly, they are not the sons and daughters of the privileged and powerful. They are children of the poor and humble, many of whom are far from successful in the classroom. Indeed, many among reggae artistes particularly, are without a real academic foundation. Yet, as academically lacking as they are, their messages are powerful and creative. What they lack in one area of distinction, they more than compensate for in another.
"If we can now add to the creative talent and athletic prowess, an academic dimension of strong performance, the power of Jamaica to shine internationally and to grow in strength domestically, would create a broader future for Jamaicans.
"Imagine a future Jamaica with 20 per cent of the graduating classes from secondary schools enrolling in university and other tertiary institutions, which is more than twice the present level. The reality is that instead of 20 per cent of the graduating classes enrolling in tertiary institutions, 20 per cent are illiterate.
"Our objective, in the JLP, is to expand our resources in every direction, not to stifle and compress the demand for growth. No car can move if the brake is on.
"For years now, Jamaica has stood still because of a strategy of holding down and holding back. The economy is held down by brakes in the system which the government cannot release. This is the failure of a government which does not know how to make the economy grow. Amazingly, this government still wants to apply more brakes to a system that needs to release the brakes.
"We do not need fewer university graduates, we need more.
"We need more doctors, nurses, teachers, lawyers, engineers, social scientists and graduates in all the other disciplines. But we don't need unemployed graduates with these professional skills, walking the streets and, in frustration, settling for any job or migrating.
"Two things must happen at the same time. The education system must be improved to quality levels that will double university and/or tertiary enrolment and the economy must grow to be able to put the graduates to work.
