Schoolboy diplomat

Emilio Chiquito, who is 18 and lives at Clooney Park West, is in his Upper Sixth Year at Foyle, studying biology, chemistry and history, recently returned triumphant from Stormont where he gave a presentation on issues effecting education today.

Through the Foyle Youth Council Emilio became involved in the ‘Speak Out Against Poverty’ initiative being run by Save the Children Fund, and it was as a result of his involvement in both organisations that he recently found himself in front of some of the country’s leaders, talking about the effects of economic and financial pressures on education provision and access.

“I got involved with Save the Children Fund through Fole Youth Council. The FYC is a forum of young people in Londonderry and the forum is part of Derry City Council. If young people have any issues they can speak to a FYC representative about it.

“Through this I learned about an initiative the Save the Children Fund were running called SOAP, or Speak Out Against poverty, and through it we have been lobbying politicians for a while, and speaking out about issues that effect us in school and in the community like the Education Maintenance Allowance and school transport.

“This year I lost my school bus pass and in general terms you find it hard going in these harsh economic times so it must be very difficult for people who live in poverty to get to school and things like that simply because of the cost involved,” he said.

At Stormont Emilio and his fellow-delegates made a presentation on education-related issues to a contingent of MLAs and legislators, and the wannabe diplomat thought it went very well.

“Young people have a right to be listened to and the presentation was really positive. What came back from the committee that met us was that they were all prepared to listen to us and to the issues we raised, and they showed commitment to helping people suffering economic stress and to empowering young people,” he said.

Among the issues discussed were giving young people more power in school and having a say in the systems of education.

Reflecting on his role in the presentation and with the two organisations, Emilio continued: “I am also very interested in international politics and after school I would like to get a good degree and become a diplomat or a politician.”