Jamaica House Fellowship Programme Producing Next Generation of Public-Sector Workers – PM Holness

A next generation of public-sector workers is being produced through the Jamaica House Fellowship Programme.

This, according to Prime Minister, the Most Hon. Andrew Holness, who conceptualised the programme.

The initiative is intended to spawn a more dynamic, efficient, and agile public service while providing an opportunity for young professionals to participate in national development and governance at the highest policy level.

Speaking during a farewell luncheon for the latest cohort of Fellows, at Jamaica House on Wednesday (November 2), Prime Minister Holness said the young professionals represent the “best of the best” and the “brightest hope” for Jamaica’s future.

“We need a new breed of technocrats… public servants who are consummate in complying with the rules and delivering quickly… . That is what the country needs. For us to engender that, we need to create a nursery… where we bring in talent and expose them to the difficulties of government, the difficult choices that are often operating in conflict with each other,” he said.

Noting that the Fellows were exposed to the dynamics and challenges of governance during their tenure, Mr. Holness urged them to utilise all they learned from the programme, in leading the public sector’s reformation.

“We need that ‘entrepreneur’, that leader at all levels of the bureaucracy that will take on the challenges and say, ‘this is my responsibility to resolve it; this file should not sit on my desk forever without any action, even if it has no consequence for me’. That is what we are trying to create,” the Prime Minister outlined.

The seven young professionals, comprising the second cohort under the Programme, were installed in November 2020. They served in various capacities across the public sector for two years.

They are Asha-Gaye Cowell, Christopher Harper, Jervian Johnson, Anabelle Jones, Kiddist McCoy, Mikol Mortley, and Christal Parris-Campbell.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Dr. the Hon. Nigel Clarke, who spoke during the luncheon, noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has posed extraordinary challenges in governance.

Against this background, he commended the programme participants for displaying fortitude and making outstanding contributions throughout their tenure.

“The next phase of our development must be concerned with human capital development in all of its forms. In order for us to have a modern, functioning, vibrant plural society, we need a public bureaucracy that is able to steward and take that forward,” he pointed out.

Dr. Clarke added that the experience gained by the Fellows will redound to the society’s benefit.

Responding on behalf of the participants, Kiddist Cowans, who was assigned to the Jamaica Creative team within the Ministry of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, said the experience of being fully immersed in the public sector, while gaining experience as civil servants and contributing to nation-building, has been impactful, life-changing and rewarding.

“I am absolutely sure that we all would have grown and developed skills which we will utilise as we ascend the rungs of the ladder of success in our respective careers,” she added.

The Jamaica House Fellowship Programme has the strategic objective of encouraging the practical involvement of young people in the governance and policy decision-making processes of government at an early stage of their professional development.