The participation of high school students in extra-curricular activities is an issue of increasing interest in much of the developed world. There is a growing consensus that youth participation in such activities has beneficial effects on many facets of development. Using data collected from four countries in the Eastern Caribbean, this paper, based on a UNICEF sponsored project, seeks to fill this gap. The study found that student involvement in extra-curricular activities was relatively high in most of the countries, but male participation overwhelmingly took the form of sports.

The Latin American reality reflects a continent full of contrasts where youth is expected to play a key role in the transformation of society. Demographic studies indicate that the percentage of young people in Latin America is greater than at any time in the past. These young people have witnessed a significant increase in opportunities for higher education in Latin America, especially in Venezuela, where student enrolment has doubled in less than two decades.