National Assembly hosts special sitting of Youth Assembly |12 March 2013

The young parliamentarians also attended the special sitting of the National Assembly which debated and adopted the Commonwealth Charter (see separate story).

The Commonwealth theme this year being ‘Opportunity through Enterprise’, it was therefore fitting for the youths to table a motion to launch a debate on the theme.

The Commonwealth theme aims to unify celebrations taking place on Commonwealth Day and also provides a focus for further Commonwealth activities during Commonwealth week and the year ahead.

Young parliamentarian Rachel Ernesta tabled the motion which launched the debate.

Ms Ernesta, like all the other members who intervened after her, highlighted the various opportunities which exist in Seychelles to allow the youths to develop and choose a career but they argued that there is a need for more career education to help young people better decide on their career path.

While they accept that the country has invested a lot and is continuing to do so in infrastructure development, better education and more employment opportunities for young people, the parliamentarians are of the view that career education has been neglected and more needs to be done in that area.

But they called on their fellow youths to make the most of opportunities available to them as investments in their future continue to increase.

After the special sitting the young parliamentarians were hosted to a lunch organised by the National Assembly executive committee of the Commonwealth Parliamentarian Association (CPA).

Earlier in the morning, after the National Assembly’s special sitting the young parliamentarians had a chance to interact and discuss various issues with their more seasoned counterparts and also the Minister responsible for Foreign Affairs Jean-Paul Adam.