Bermuda Employers? Council president William DeSilva has blasted the state of public education saying too many youngsters are not capable of even filling entry-level jobs.

Blaming slacking standards on a lack of accountability in public schools, Mr. DeSilva said technical education is letting the Island?s youngsters down with computers skills below acceptable levels.

Mr. DeSilva told : ?Students are coming out without the requisite skill sets to take up their rightful places in the business community.?

Employers have set up meetings with school guidance counsellors to show them the difference between what is expected and what employers are getting, said Mr. DeSilva.

?We need to help them find ways to make sure they are being provided with the training required to take up their rightful place.

?That?s a big one for us because if we don?t have Bermudians coming out with the right skill sets we are not going to be able to run our own economy in the future.

?The general sentiment is they are not meeting the mark of entry-level positions as we would expect.

?There is very little accountability in public education. In private education you have stakeholders who have accountability ? parents who write a cheque and teachers who have a performance evaluation.

?My knowledge of public education ? which is somewhat limited ? suggests that same level of accountability and mechanisms to make it happen doesn?t exist in public education.

?That?s regrettable. We don?t wish to be critical of it. We want to certainly work with them to ensure that in the future they come out with the requisite skills.?

Well-qualified human resource managers were willing to help, said Mr. DeSilva.

?It?s going to be different for each one of the schools. The thing that sticks out is the amount of computer training they have.?

The average student was not good enough said Mr. DeSilva.

?Some are brilliant but you have others who come out with what seems like very little exposure to computer applications used in the workplace today with regularity.

?Bricks and mortar will not on its own turn out a successful product. It needs a willingness to learn and accountability. Accountability is the key.

?If we are going to run our economy in the future we are going to need sound education at all levels.?

He said schools would be told specifically which jobs were coming up and what was needed for students to successfully apply for them.

Mr. DeSilva conceded some counsellors would face a battle getting suggested changes implemented into the curriculum.

?I don?t expect the graduating class of 2007 will come out well and truly armed. But I do expect it will be a deliberate and a continual work in progress. We offer a commitment to help the schools put in a place whatever is necessary.?