programme for mature students.

Ms Sandra Seymour of Conyers, Dill & Pearman, who has been coordinating the programme, said the Chamber wants to raise about $25,000 this year to assist about 20 Bermudian students.

The programme, which began in 1977, "is the only one in Bermuda specifically designed for the mature Bermudian student presently in the workforce to assist them in meeting their financial obligations in maintaining a home, while retraining, developing skills or pursuing their career objectives at Bermuda College, the Bermuda Insurance Institute or other local institutions,'' the Chamber said in a news release.

About 180 grants worth $200,000 have been awarded since the programme began.

Chamber members like banks, the telephone company, the electric light company, television and radio stations, retail stores, hotels, restaurants, and other small businesses have contributed.

"We need money more than anything,'' Ms Seymour said. "We always have enough candidates.'' Applications for grants open around June 1, she said.

Mr. Norman Robinson, 24, of Warwick, will be helped by the programme for the third consecutive year this year as he pursues an associate degree programme in arts and science at Bermuda College, majoring in engineering.

One day, he would like to be a mechanical and aerospace engineer and start his own business in Bermuda.

"The assistance that they gave me allowed me to go back to school,'' after leaving Sandys Secondary School in about 1988, Mr. Robinson said.

"If you've got the chance to stay in school, stay in school,'' he said.

"Education is the key.''