Thousands of Young People Benefit from JNSC

Through the work of the Jamaica National Service Corps (JNSC), thousands of Jamaican youth continue to gain access to transformative life skills training and meaningful career opportunities that empower them to build brighter futures.

Established in 2017, the programme is used as a mode of enlistment for persons joining the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF), as well as to provide skills training opportunities to individuals, thereby reducing the number of young people considered at risk or unattached in the country.

In a recent interview with JIS News, Acting President of the Caribbean Military Academy, JDF, Colonel Maxwell Gordon, says the programme aims to provide opportunities for young people to become gainfully employed and to be able to contribute meaningfully to national development.

“We would have engaged more than 6,000 of Jamaican youth since inception of the programme. The majority of those have served and are still serving in the JDF. Some of them have gone on to be serving in other ministries, departments, agencies, and even in the private sector and so, from that standpoint, one could get a sense of the impact,” he notes.

“Whilst we’ve only managed just over 6,000, and one can imagine that’s a function of capacity, I do believe that if you take it from an individual and even through organisational and certainly the nation, I think the programme has been quite impactful,” he shares.

He explains that beyond the recruitment for the JDF, the Skills Track for Workforce Development component of the programme offers technical skills and professional discipline to enhance employability of participants.

Colonel Gordon further advises that the programme is being expanded to offer training in agriculture to complement the existing offerings in office administration and electrical installation.

The Skills Track for Workforce Development component of the programme is being undertaken in collaboration with the HEART/NSTA Trust. The first cohort trained under the programme received their certification in June of 2025. The programme was launched in February 2025.

Trainees in the administrative assistance programme are expected to gain proficiency in workplace communication, business documentation, customer service, application software use and basic financial processing.

Those in the electrical installation stream were introduced to the principles of occupational health and safety, and trained in conduit preparation, wiring installations, distribution panel setups and the installation of metering sockets.

“HEART/NSTA Trust has been a faithful partner… . Hand in hand, we’ve been able to conceptualise, develop, and deliver the [programme],” Colonel Gordon shares.

He further explains that the programmes that are implemented are informed by data from the Trust.

“They have the indication as to what industry is asking for and so we’re guided by that, but it still falls to the candidates to indicate what they’re interested in,” he says.

He adds that the majority of those who have engaged in the skills track have gained employment, “and those who have not, are actually in the process of being recruited in various organisations”.

He explains that through its design, the programme teaches discipline, leadership, and civic responsibility among young people.

“The design of the programme is such that, at the outset, they go through what we call a personal development camp. The personal development camp is geared towards inculcating in our candidates a strong sense of civic duty and responsibility and so, in partnership with the HEART/NSTA Trust, the programme was designed and delivered to achieve that,” he posits.

Furthermore, he says through interactions and testimonials, participants have shared the importance of the programme on their lives.

“From my standpoint, I think over the years, when we interact with the youth who have come through the programme, they have indicated that through the programme delivered, they feel better capable and better equipped to take on the challenges of early adulthood. They feel better integrated in society, and certainly their outlook has improved,” he shares.

As JNSC participant in the Skills Track for Workforce Development, Valesha Burke can attest, the programme was a door that led to a new path, one filled with growth, strength, discipline, endurance, new connections and even healing.

Ms. Burke was named the most outstanding administrative assistant student at the inaugural graduation ceremony for the JNSC Skills Track for Workforce Development held in June 2025.

“In the end, we didn’t just finish a programme; we endured and now we are transformed. What we have gained is more than a certificate but a core memory of strength, discipline, courage and pride,” she shared, during the graduation ceremony.

Colonel Gordon is urging more Jamaican youth, aged 18 to 23, to enrol in the programmes being offered through the JNSC, explaining that recruitment activities occur online and face-to-face at Up Park Camp in St. Andrew and JDF bases islandwide.

He points out that the JDF and its partners are constantly exploring ways to engage more individuals through its offerings.

“Our constant effort is how do we become better at it and how do we expand so that we can engage more, and that is what we’re committed to, and working with our partners at the HEART/NSTA Trust, I’m very confident that we’ll be able to do that,” he tells JIS News.

The JNSC supports the Government’s LEGS (Learn, Earn, Give-Back and Save) Programme and the National Military Engagement Programme (NMEP), geared towards positively impacting young people through increased employment, employability and positive engagement.

The programme also contributes to the Government’s Housing, Opportunity, Production and Employment Programme (HOPE).

The JNSC is part of the Government’s LEGS Programme and aims to create an avenue for young people ages 18 to 23 to be fully empowered through national service.

It falls under the HOPE initiative, targeting job and training opportunities for unattached young people.

Prime Miniser, Dr. the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, explained that the JNSC was conceptualised to equip young men and women of Jamaica with important life skills to ensure their own success as well as that of their families.

“It will allow our young people to achieve their highest potential, and more importantly, empower youth and instil a deeper sense of ownership and pride in ‘Jamaica Land We Love’,” he said, during the graduation ceremony for the first 208 privates certified under the Jamaica National Service Corps Programme.

The privates, representing the first intake of JNSC batch 1701, completed four phases of rigorous training covering basic, intermediate and infantry exercises and on-the-job instruction with the JDF.