Starting this Monday, 92 young Barbadians will step out of the classroom and into real-world public service workplaces as participants in a newly relaunched Summer Internship Programme, a collaborative initiative led by the country’s Ministry of Home Affairs and Information and the Office of the Attorney General.
The incoming cohort was officially welcomed during a press briefing held Friday at the Barbados Postal Service, where current Home Affairs and Information Minister Gregory Nicholls opened up about the origins of the programme, noting it was first launched by former Home Affairs Minister Wilfred Abrahams, who now serves as Attorney General. When Nicholls took over his ministerial role, Abrahams prioritized continuing the youth-focused initiative, and the pair worked across teams to expand placements across all relevant government departments. With 15 to 16 separate agencies falling under the Ministry of Home Affairs alone, the programme now offers diverse placement opportunities across multiple sectors of public service.
Designed to bridge the gap between academic learning and professional work, the summer internship positions participants across more than a dozen government departments and public agencies, including the Probation Department, Immigration Department, Barbados Postal Service, Government Printery, Caribbean Broadcasting Corporation, Government Information Service, National Council on Substance Abuse, Barbados Meteorological Services, Department of Emergency Management, Barbados Prison Service, Government Industrial Schools and the Barbados Broadcasting Authority.
In his address to the new intern cohort, Nicholls framed the programme as far more than a temporary summer job, positioning it as a foundational stepping stone for the next generation of national leaders. He encouraged participants to approach their placements with curiosity, humility and a commitment to learning, advising: “Do not see yourselves as summer workers; see yourselves as learners, as explorers, and as future leaders. Be curious, ask questions respectfully, of course. Observe, seek to understand not only what is done, but why it is done. Every task, no matter how small it may be, offers a valuable lesson.”
Nicholls also highlighted three core traits he said would help interns get the most out of their experience: resilience, strength of character and respect. Acknowledging that new roles often come with uncertainty and unforeseen challenges, he noted that growth only happens when people push past their comfort zones. “There are moments when you encounter challenges. You’ll be asked to perform tasks that you have never done before, you may make mistakes and you may feel uncertain at times, that is perfectly normal. Growth often occurs when we step outside of our comfort zones,” he said. He added that robustness – defined as discipline, professionalism, punctuality and initiative – is key to building trust with supervisors and making a lasting positive impression. Nicholls closed by reminding participants that regardless of their future career paths, Barbados needs the energy, creativity, integrity and vision of its young people to move forward.
Attorney General Abrahams, who founded the programme, explained that it fills a critical gap in youth development: it teaches unwritten professional skills that are rarely covered in formal education, including workplace dress codes, professional etiquette, communication norms and workplace professionalism. He also shared that the programme has a proven track record of creating long-term employment pathways, noting that many past participants have been hired as full-time staff by the departments where they interned.
Abrahams pointed to the impact of the 2023 cohort’s placement during Hurricane Beryl, where interns at the Department of Emergency Management gained hands-on experience in disaster response, from processing emergency calls to coordinating public safety shutdowns. “This is not just something to spend the time on in the summer. We want to teach you about life, we want to teach you about work,” he said, adding that parents are encouraged to engage with their children about their experiences to fully integrate the learning.
The attorney general added that the internship also drives transformative personal growth, helping young people shift from a student mindset to that of a working young adult. Sharing an example from his own constituency, he said many past participants entered the programme raw, undisciplined and unfocused, but left with clear direction and professional maturity that changed the trajectory of their lives.
Participant feedback on the programme has been overwhelmingly positive, with many young people saying it addresses a critical gap in youth employment preparedness. Amiah Padmore, an aspiring psychology professional, called the opportunity “a great chance” to build foundational experience ahead of her planned career. “I feel very good. I feel like this is a great opportunity for me and I will definitely have experience doing things like this because I want to go into psychology. And I like to talk to people,” she said. While she has no preference for her department placement, she plans to make the most of every experience, noting that many young people like herself lack exposure to how professional workplaces operate. “It’s important because people like me are very misguided. They don’t have much knowledge about the work and how it operates or what to do, so it’s just for them to practice or get into it to know what to do,” Padmore explained.
Seventeen-year-old Davidson Griffith, a participant with experience in the Barbados National Youth Parliament and a past youth ambassador advocating for students with disabilities, echoed that excitement. Griffith, who has dyslexia, said the programme gives young people a rare chance to build interpersonal skills while contributing directly to national development. “I feel extremely great it’s an opportunity for young people to come together and to develop their interpersonal skills as it pertains to serving the public of Barbados and contributing to the development of Barbados,” he said. Prepared to serve in any assigned department, Griffith said he hopes to set an example for other young Barbadians, encouraging them to take advantage of the opportunities the government provides. “My interest in this internship is to serve. If it’s serving in whatever department that the internship offers, I just want to be there to serve the people of Barbados and to be an example for young people of Barbados, especially young men in Barbados, that the government is providing these opportunities and don’t take them for granted,” he said.
