Belize is planning to celebrate
the success of 9 students who
successfully completed the Commonwealth
Youth Programme/University of
the West Indies (CYP/UWI) Diploma
in Youth in Development Work during
2004 - 2006.
The students were drawn from
Youth For the Future (YFF), Community
Rehabilitation Department and
the Belize Immigration Department,
she added.
Mrs. Sandra Diaz-Cadle explained
that the programme commenced with
22 students in June 2004 but due
to a number of factors including
termination of services, resignations,
inability to balance full time
employment, family life and the
challenges of the programme, involvement
in other training programmes and
lack of commitment contributed
to the attrition rate.
According to Ms Diaz-Cadle, prior
to withdrawal from the programme
by students, several intervention
strategies were employed to encourage
them to complete the Diploma.
With support from the YFF, the
National Advisory Board and UWI,
she engaged the services of additional
tutors to help students cope with
the challenges of the programme
by providing individual counseling
with respect to career choice
discussions. Mrs Diaz-Cadle also
secured mentors to provide moral
and technical support to students
and lobbied employers to grant
needed time-off to students to
complete outstanding assignments.
The Country Coordinator thanked
Youth for the Future for its support
by providing partial and full
scholarships to 15 of its employees
and the Commonwealth Youth Programme
Caribbean Centre for playing a
lead role in ensuring that youth
work is recognized as a profession
in the region.
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