Work experience opportunities in accountancy, technology and hospitality have been opened in the public school system through partnerships with outside organisations, MPs heard.

It includes the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants as a signature learning partner.

Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, gave an update in the House of Assembly this morning on progress being made in linking the new senior-school-level programmes with related companies.

Recent announcements listed Paradise Mobile, Cambridge Beaches and BAC Group as partner organisations, and ACCA is the latest to join the fold.

Mr Rabain said: “The final signature learning partner to mention is ACCA, which will work with The Berkeley Institute, the Department of Education, Bermuda College and Chartered Professional Accountants Bermuda on several key initiatives.

“These include developing accounting education capacity, growing the local pool of finance and accounting professionals in Bermuda, supporting local talent hiring efforts, and offering mentoring and workplace opportunities for students.

“The MOU signing brought ACCA's Foundations in Accountancy qualification at RQF [Regulated Qualifications Framework] Levels 2 and 3 into the S3 and S4 curriculum.

“This initiative strengthens our educational programmes in accounting and finance within signature learning, making Bermuda the first country in the region to launch this initiative.”

Paradise Mobile will be part of the science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or Stem, signature programme at CedarBridge Academy, and financial and insurance services at The Berkeley Institute.

Mr Rabain said students would have access to advanced technology, creating a new wave of technologically savvy entrepreneurs and innovators.

Cambridge Beaches will offer students at Sandys Secondary Middle School the opportunity to interact with and learn from industry experts, helping them to obtain relevant credentials.

Mr Rabain said the school is to be transformed into Bermuda’s third senior signature school and will deliver the hospitality and tourism and education services signature learning programmes in September 2025.

BAC Group will support Berkeley with the financial and insurance services signature and as well as backing CedarBridge Academy with the engineering strand in the Stem signature learning programme, and the automotive technology and electrical strands in the trades and professions programme

Other organisations to have signed MOUs with signature learning programmes are: the Bermuda Institute of Ocean Sciences, the Bermuda Zoological Society, Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, KPMG Bermuda, the Association of Bermuda International Companies, Koom Consulting Ltd and Belco.

Mr Rabain said: “At the time of that announcement, we were already seeing the benefits of these learning partnerships.

“Students enrolled in the Stem programme at CedarBridge were experiencing Stem first-hand alongside experts and in real-world professional environments at the BAMZ in Flatts, thanks to BZS, which is working with school staff to co-deliver modules including field investigations.

“In another partnership with Abic, Bermuda public schoolteachers delivering the financial and insurance services at Berkeley had the opportunity to receive industry-aligned professional learning focused on international business.”

Mr Rabain added: “This government will continue to encourage and support more community and industry partners to commit to the children and young people of Bermuda so that, together, we can give learners the tools they need to do well and to prepare our young Bermudians to be competitive and innovative members of both the local and the global community.”