The level of education among students coming out of high school is a cause for major concern if young Bahamians are to compete in the “global village,” President of the Grand Bahama Chamber of Commerce, Dr. Doswell Coakley, said yesterday.
Fielding questions from high school students, Dr. Coakley said the “baton” has been passed on to the country’s young people who will need to be prepared for globalisation.
Recalling personal experiences, he said, “five out of the seven [graduates] didn’t know how to prepare a resume and two out of seven came to me bragging about D’s, about having passes in English, Math and so on, with D’s.”
“That doesn’t cut it,” said Dr. Coakley. “They can’t even fill out an application form in today’s world in 2006. I fail to understand how we could be putting out students who can’t even fill out a form. It shouldn’t happen.
“It’s sad to have to tell them that. It’s sad to have them come in dressed and looking the part, and that’s a serious, serious concern I have.”
Pointing to the competition on the “global scene,” Dr. Coakley said he has seen the competition young Bahamians will be faced with.
As a member of Rotary International Board, which provides scholarships, the president said he has seen a wide array of graduating students seeking scholarships.
“The reality is what we as Bahamians are facing students from the Caribbean. There was a young lady there who was 22-years-old who spoke and wrote six languages fluently. That’s what we are facing,” he said.
“If I was to get an application from a Bahamian student, that’s the competition they’ll meet.
“The worst thing to happen is for us to put out students and make them believe they are ready for the world and have them go through a major shock when reality hits them,” Dr. Coakley said.
He said students must prepare themselves for opportunities and “be the best they can be.”
There are many opportunities coming on stream as Grand Bahama is “hot” in the marketplace, said Dr. Coakley who noted that not only will academic skills be needed, but also labour skills.
“We are at a point right now in the Bahamas when we are faced with a significant flow of investment dollars but we don’t have the people with the skills to do the hands-on jobs,” he said.
Dr. Coakley pointing to the skilled labour needed by foreign investors and said it would be difficult for the Bahamas to pursue and achieve its goals for economic development with such a small amount of skilled labour.
He pointed to similar times in the past when The Bahamas was forced to call on foreign labour.
“When the Cable Beach Hotel was built they got Indians because we didn’t have enough Bahamians to do the work,” Dr. Coakley said.
“More recently, most of the tile layers at the Royal Oasis were brought in from Asia because Bahamians are not available to do it at any large numbers. We are almost at the point again of another crisis,” he said.
He suggests an accelerated rate of training.
“So what needs to happen is we need to find a way to accelerate the training of those persons not academically inclined, but who might be interested in a trade. We need carpenters, we need masons, we need other artisans and we need roofers,” he said.
Director of the $3.7 billion Ginn Development, John Davies, also noted the need for more trained workers.
Mr. Davies said the development will need a projected 3,700 workers at the peak of construction, and upon completion will generate more than 4,000 permanent new jobs.
Ginn will require workers with a wide range of skills, he said.
“As part of this process we are going to set up a training programme to train craftsman, to train bulldozer drivers, people to work on the golf courses, people who can do the intricate work of shaping the golf courses,” said Mr. Davies.
During an interview with The Bahama Journal, Labour Minister Shane Gibson said he was not concerned about a possible labour shortage.
“There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we have all of the labour skills required for all of the development under construction at this time,” Minister Gibson said.
“Some of the skills will definitely have to be imported, but for those areas where the skills do exist, I want Bahamians to step forward and be a part of these huge developments.”
Speaking about the opportunities to come on stream in the Bahamas, Mr. Gibson said, “The last thing we would want is to have these opportunities here in The Bahamas and Bahamians are not prepared to take advantage of them.”
By: Daphne McIntosh, The Bahama Journal
