WorldSkills Barbados 2025 Finalists Announced

The Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) Council has announced the finalists of this year’s WorldSkills Barbados 2025 competition.

The list of finalists comprises students at the Barbados Community College (BCC), the Barbados Vocational Training Board (BVTB), and the Caribbean Cuisine Culinary Institute (CCCI). 

They are as follows:

• BCC – Reese-Ann Alleyne, Johnathan Belle, Adrianna Holder, Cali Ifill, Ramya Lynton and Jerimiah Scott. 
• BVTB – Tiara Maynard, Malachi Batson, Anesha Jules and Akeem Best.
• CCCI – Arielle Sobers and Kanye Clarke-Forde.

Speaking at a recent media briefing under the theme Promoting Skills Development and Excellence, at the Radisson Aquatica Resort, Executive Director of the TVET Council, Henderson Eastmond, stated that the initial goal for the competition, launched in 2012, was to give young people in local training institutions a chance to showcase their skills. 

However, he said organisers discovered that after participating in an international competition in Abu Dhabi in 2017, they had to ‘face the hard truth’.

“If we wanted to compete internationally, we had to raise our game. We realised we are training our competitors to become competent, but WorldSkills International is about excellence, and that makes a big difference,” Mr. Eastmond stated.

He added that several necessary changes were made, such as the introduction of the competitor development programme, and increased participation in national competitions to give competitors more exposure. 

Mr. Eastmond admitted that even with these improvements, his organisation realised that while other countries were sharpening their competitors for excellence, the Barbadian team was still building ‘basics competence’.

Mr. Eastmond said: “To address this, the TVET Council has been working closely with industry and training institutions. We’ve been providing professional development opportunities for instructors to upskill and raise their knowledge. We are also working with partners to introduce technical degrees and higher level CVQ (Caribbean Vocational Qualification).”

He also told the audience that the TVET Council continues to work with institutions to build capacity and will take a more direct approach to begin preparing competitors directly for the WorldSkills Competition.

“This training will be delivered in partnership with our WorldSkills Partnership partners and will be based on WorldSkills occupational standards…. And here’s the key difference, this training will happen before the national competition, similar to what we have done this year.

“This means [that] by the time competitors reach the WorldSkills Barbados stage, they’ll already be trained and certified to [meet] international standards. This will raise the quality of our national competition and ensure that our competitors are truly ready for the global stage,” the Executive Director stated.

According to Mr. Eastmond, the training for WorldSkills is not just about preparing young people for that competition but for careers, leadership, and global opportunities.

He shared that support for this initiative is needed from industry leaders for training and mentorship, from educators to embrace higher standards and support curriculum reform, and for government to continue investing in skills development, with the aim of inspiring the next generation. 

The WorldSkills Competition, which is the largest international skills competition, is organised every two years under the aegis of WorldSkills International.  The competition, which was held last year in Lyon, France, is scheduled to take place in Shanghai, China, in 2026. (PR/GIS)

Caption: Finalists of WorldSkills Barbados 2025 pose for a photograph with (front row, left to right) – former Worldskills Barbados competitor, Moriah Hill; Lead Officer of Worldskills Barbados, Dario Walcott; BVTB Senior Executive Officer, Gerard Prescod; and BCC Principal, Annette Alleyne; Executive Director of TVET Council, Henderson Eastmond; National/Caribbean Vocational Qualification Coordinator, Jenise Hurley; and TVET Council Chairman, Dr. Albert Best.