explore the various job opportunities available to them is the aim of the summer employment programme, organised by the Department of Labour and Training.

The programme is designed to provide Bermudian students from age 15 and up with meaningful work and training experience for either five or eight weeks during the summer months.

This summer, 200 of the 795 secondary and post-secondary students who sought help from the programme were placed in Government jobs. A further 47 received private sector placements and 301 found jobs on their own. And because there was an increase in the number of students looking for jobs, Government had to double the amount normally spent on the summer employment programme to close to $375,000.

Although these numbers look fairly good, there is a need for more businesses to come forward -- more nursery schools, small businesses, and hotels offering summer jobs.

Karen Trott, the placement officer overseeing the summer programme this year, said the programme helped employers and students.

The employers were able to get short term staffing assistance, an opportunity to identify students with potential for future employment with their organisation and they may also apply for exemption from Social Insurance and Employment tax.

Students get an opportunity to earn money, gain real work experience, receive financial support for continued participation in school, increase their awareness of vocational opportunities and find mentors.

"We try to match students in college with jobs related to their study,'' Miss Trott said. "We have two groups of students secondary (which start at age 15) and post secondary.'' To enter the programme, each student must be a Bermudian, be in regular attendance at a recognised educational institution and be at least 15-years-old.

She added: "We try to place secondary students in jobs for five weeks when they work in the Government sectors. If they work in the private sector the company can keep them for the whole summer if they choose. Post-secondary students are placed in jobs for eight weeks.

"A concern that we have is that some students are getting the same job every year and others don't get the opportunity. The company may just decide that that particular student works well with them and that's good, but that's why we need more community assistance.'' Miss Trott said the programme has not had a great response for secondary students but college students have done very well this year.

"Companies feel they would have to give secondary students more supervision if they were hired and they think of college students as being more mature.

"But some secondary students are also quite mature and they really want the work experience but they are not very successful.'' Ministry of Home Affairs Manager of Training and Employment Naomi Schroter said for a lot of the students having a job is not just about making money.

They also want to be where their interests are.

"There are some who want to make money but there are also parents who just want their kids to be kept busy and it is because of that we are looking into a volunteer programme for next summer,'' she said.

"We encourage these students to not just look on this as a job for life.

After all this is just the summer so they have to look at the different benefits like getting financial assistance, an introduction to different career opportunities, making contacts, and the chance to build good work references.

"They can also obtain three of these through volunteering,'' Mrs. Schroter said.

She added that ideally, in other countries, restaurants and hotels are constantly looking for bright young students to come in, "but in Bermuda the hospitality industry is not a job of choice. There is not a lot of interest in that area''.

Mrs. Schroter said: "We want to encourage our young people to aim high and we need community support to provide a networking system and mentoring.'' Students must register with Government Employment between December 1 of the previous year and June 30 of the year of the programme.

Photos by Tony Cordeiro BUTTERFLY STUDY -- Heather Baylay looks closely at the butterflies that were hatched in the Agriculture and Fisheries lab. The big cotton ball, which has been dipped in honey, is their food source.

LARVA INSPECTION -- Tyietha Anderson inspects larva growing in the Agriculture and Fisheries laboratory.

YOUNG WORKERS -- These four students were given summer jobs in the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries laboratory. Here, is senior plant protection officer Dr. Jefferey Jones showing (from left) Ricardo Butler, Heather Baylay, Owen Smith and Tyietha Anderson the damage a caterpillar can do to plants.