NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (August 27, 2013) – Nevis should now have a group of 44 students who could transfer their new knowledge and skills to the world of work after their participation in the Youth Affairs Division’s 10th Annual Summer Job Attachment Programme. Permanent Secretary in the Nevis Island Administration’s (NIA) Ministry of Social Development Mr. Keith Glasgow made the assertion as he addressed the participants at the programme’s official closing on August 23, 2013.
Mr. Glasgow, who explained that the six-week internship was one of the strategies the NIA’s Ministry of Social Development had put in place to give youth on the island an opportunity to become worthwhile citizens in the Nevisian society, said he hoped that participants in this year’s programme saw the internship not only as a means of making money but also as a chance to prepare themselves for other opportunities.
“We feel it is extremely important that we put mechanisms in place to protect and to give you the best possible opportunity in life…I hope that you would have used this opportunity to learn as much as you can, to acquire new knowledge and skills that you could use, of course, in the world of work…We should now have a bunch of young people who can transfer their new knowledge and skills to the world of work in whichever field you may wish to go into,” he said.
The Permanent Secretary said the fact that the programme involved, among other things, training in professional ethics was of great importance and he hoped that the interns had impressed their supervisors with a display of these positive traits.
“Other than having skills so that you could complete certain technical proficiencies, you need to have what we call the softer touch. You need to have, as we like to say, virtues. They are extremely important. I am happy that the ethical training was a vital part of this internship programme.
“You have knowledge. You have skills. There are employers out there who are willing to buy those knowledge and skills but you have to be a good salesman and a good saleswoman. So your whole attitude, your behaviour, those would be extremely important in terms of the employers or prospective employers who may wish to employ you. So please learn to sell yourself well,” he said.
The Social Development Permanent Secretary also extended best wishes to the interns as they moved on to the world of work or to further education.
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