that being Bermudian did not automatically mean they would get the best jobs available on the Island.

Finance Minister Grant Gibbons was speaking to the Saltus Senior School students at their annual prize-giving ceremony in the Anglican Cathedral on Wednesday night.

He said the world was on the edge of the third great revolution of its history and it would present "great possibilities and challenges'' for the students' generation.

First there were the agricultural and industrial revolutions, he continued, and "now we face the next revolution, the information society, where knowledge is valued more highly than material things''.

Dr. Gibbons told the students they were "the ones with the vested interest in the new''.

"It's your generation that will recognise and develop this new information society for Bermuda and the benefits will be significant both to you and to your country.'' However Dr. Gibbons warned: "But before you think that good jobs will just fall into your hands, I should warn you that the business community will be more competitive than ever before.

"Bermudians aren't entitled to good jobs. They have to prove they're worthy of them through qualifications and performance.'' And he added that values like hard work and a commitment to excellence counted.

But while their future employers would look for signs of excellence, he said, this excellence would go beyond good grades to the playing fields, volunteer work and participation in the performing arts.

"You can be good at a lot of things, but what you must be best at is caring.

Caring deeply about whatever you do.''