seek a coalition with the hospitality industry and retailers, with the objective of helping to re-shape the landscape of opportunities in education for Bermudians.

International companies have already played a substantial role in providing funding for higher education for Bermudians, but ICD chairman David Ezekiel told a growing list of corporate members at the division's 26th annual meeting that more must be done.

ICD companies last year donated $230,000 to the International Companies Education Awards (ICEA) scholarship scheme. There are currently 41 students benefiting from that programme.

He said, "I believe we have an important role to play in the area of education. The ICEA scheme is part of this and is a great success. And, in addition to this, a number of our members have individual scholarship programmes.

Call for focus on education "I think, however, that we need a greater focus on how we can assist in improving the local education product, no matter how good or bad we think it is.'' Mr. Ezekiel, the president of captive manager, International Advisory Services Ltd., said, "What we need now is the support of our members, and, of other organisations on the Island, as we must never lose sight of the fact that international companies represent only one piece of the employment market, which is still dominated by the hospitality industry.

"While we may be prepared to lead some of these initiatives, to do it alone will create a false expectation of the ability of the international companies to take in new employees. We thus will be enlisting the support of all sectors of the economy for any structure we put in place. What I believe we all need to keep in mind is that we live in a low-tax domicile and this brings with it added responsibility.

"We at ICD continually urge the Minister of Finance to contain the cost of Government. And providing our assistance is one way to make this happen.'' Meanwhile, the still new Job Training & Employment scheme announced by the ICD a year ago as a joint initiative with the Ministry of Labour, Home Affairs & Public Safety, has so far attracted support from nine companies. The programme puts unskilled young people directly in the work force at participating firms.

Said Mr. Ezekiel, "The young people are placed by the Ministry. Each of the participating companies have taken at least one person, providing them with a livable wage. We know they are not going to add a whole lot to the process in the first year. So it is very much an act of faith by these companies, who also provide day release and funding for their education.

"I would like to thank the Ministry of Finance for exempting this position from the payroll tax, which was a very important part of how we got the programme going.'' He urged other companies to come forward to support the scheme.

David Ezekiel EDUCATION ED