Lecturer: Youths turn to be victims

 YOUTHS are ‘victims’ of the erroneous process of modernisation and development, a senior lecturer at the University of Western Sydney, Australia, Peter Kanaparo says.

He said his research conducted in NCD, Mt Hagen, Kokopo, Goroka, Lae, and Madang last year involved male and female urban youth of school age at community schools to universities or colleges, new graduates, school drop-outs and youths who had never been to schools, indicated that the socio-economic impacts of development and modernisation had had a greater impact on the normal life cycle of the youth.

Kanaparo was addressing youths and other stake holders at the youth symposium in Port Moresby yesterday and said that most young people turned to activities that would earn them a living when the education system could not accommodate them and with few jobs available.

 “The entire blame goes to the urban youth but we are ignorant of our efforts to critically address them and put in place measures that can effectively reduce the associated problems,” he said. 

“Government departments and non-government organisations have been instrumental in drafting policies after policies, programs after programs but to date, there are little evidences of implementation and achievement of the desired results.

“People come to urban centres in the hope of getting some form of employment and others attracted by the opportunities of the city. 

“When they learnt that their dreams are limited by the realities of life in the city they cluster in their little ethnic groups in shanty-towns in the city.”