3.3. Guyana

Education and awareness of human rights are present in the life of a French citizen: civic education classes at school, Citizenship and Defence day which allows being informed of his rights and duties and knowing how institutions works, participation in volunteer activities, or commitment to civic service. The current context focuses human rights education around two major issues: the principle of secularism and gender equality.

3 . 3 . G U Y AN A

The definition for youth will tend to vary from country to country. Given that reality, for statistical purposes, the Government of Guyana defines youth as persons between the ages of fourteen (14) to thirty-five (35) years of age, inclusive. This Policy uses the terms youth and young people interchangeably

While youth is categorised as the fourteen (14) to thirty five (35) years, the Government of Guyana recognises persons between ten (10) to fourteen (14) years of age as preadolescent and is cognisant of the unique challenges and vulnerabilities they face. As the immediate forerunners of youth, their needs and challenges have also informed the youth development policies that follow and will be catered for in the NYEAP.

Moreover, the policy is rooted in the Constitution of Guyana, which acknowledges:

“The aspirations of our young people who, in their own words, have declared that the future of Guyana belongs to its young people, who aspire to live in a safe society which respects their dignity, protects their rights, recognises their potential, listens to their voices, provides opportunities, ensures a healthy environment and encourages people of all races to live in harmony and peace and affirm that their declaration will be binding to our institutions and be a part of the context of our basic law”. (PREAMBLE, 26) The Government of Guyana in 1999 amended our education and labour laws to promote the rights of children. The Education Act was amended to make 15 years the compulsory school age, a change from 14 years; and the Employment of Young Persons and Children’s Act, which provided 14 years as the minimum age for employment, was also amended to 15 years. Guyana’s Employment of Young Persons and Children (Amendment) Act of 1999 and the Education Amendment Act of 1999 both set the minimum age for all types of employment at 15 with the objective of eliminating child labour in all forms within our society.

The Education Act provides for compulsory education to the age of 15 and also restricts the employment of children and includes penalties for parents who do not ensure that their children attend school, as well as for employers directly involved with child labour. While the Ministry of Labour Human Services and Social Security (MLHSSS) has principal responsibility for enforcing legislation relating to child labour, the Ministry of Education has responsibility for enforcing the truancy provisions of the Education Act. The Ministry of Education assists in reintegrating children into the school system who have dropped out of school for various reasons including those involved in child labor.

Protecting children from exploitative child labour is also reflected in Objective no. 12 of Government’s National Policy for Orphans and Vulnerable Children which was developed in 2004 to ensure that all children who are orphaned or