Education Minister Wayne Scott this morning provided an update MPs on the Career Pathways Programme and the continued success experienced by Bermuda’s students.

He said: “This programme has been in place since the 2012-13 academic school year in Bermuda’s two public senior schools, the Berkeley Institute and the CedarBridge Academy.

The programme provides our S3 and S4 senior school students who are 16 or 17 years old, with the opportunity to acquire academic, technical and workplace skills in preparation for life beyond the classroom. There are five different areas of exploration within this programme that include: college preparatory courses, applied technology, business and hospitality, health and human services, and athletics, arts and communication.

The goal of the Career Pathways programme is threefold: to provide learning opportunities for our students through real-world work experiences; to provide students with advanced college preparatory courses; and, to foster student’s development of professionalism, accountability, interpersonal communication and networking skills.

The Career Pathways presently offers six certification programmes that includes: a Nurses Aid Certification and the City & Guilds Employability Skills course, which are both managed by the Bermuda College; an Automotive Certification acquired through the National Training Board via Noble Auto; the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) accounting certification programme; the Skills, Tasks & Results Training (START) programme managed by the Bermuda Hospitality Institute; and, the Bermuda Insurance Institute’s General Insurance Certification.

During their Career Pathways experience in the workplace, students are supervised by either a trainer or a mentor. Upon completion of their workplace experience, the students are evaluated by their trainer or mentor at the workplace site, using criteria developed collectively by the Department of Education, school leaders and industry partners. Students who successfully complete the work-placement experience receive one credit which contributes toward their senior school graduation.

Allow me to first highlight our student successes in the Bermuda Insurance Institute programme. In January 2014, the first cohort of students from both the Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy enrolled in the Bermuda Insurance Institute’s programme. Upon successful completion they will achieve an Associate in General Insurance designation. To date, four of seven students who started the programme, namely, Brianne West, Kenvo Iris, Jordan Payne and Niambia Landy are doing extremely well. Thus far they have passed all of the exams that they have taken, and are on target to obtain the Associates in General Insurance, by December 2015. This is so pleasing to know that our high school students will graduate with a designation in General Insurance that immediately equips them for the working world.

The outstanding performance of our students in the insurance programme encouraged Dr. Dawnelle Walker, the CEO of the Bermuda Insurance Institute to recruit a second cohort for the programme. In doing so, three more students from the Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy: Jahstice Trott, Imani Smith and Ashley Belgrave enrolled in the programme just this month, February 2015, with the expectation of obtaining their Associates in General Insurance next year in June 2016.

Dr. Walker and members of the Bermuda Insurance Institute have developed a rigorous three-tiered insurance programmefor students, in that initially students are involved in a six-week segment that introduces them to the insurance industry. In the second, five-week tier of the certification programme, students work with industry partners; and, during the third tier, students then prepare to sit exams for the general insurance certification. The three areas of concentrated study are commercial, property and personal insurance.

We extend our gratitude to the seven insurance-industry partners who are working with our students in the Career pathways programme. They are Abby Clifford from BF&M; Damien Pitcher from Freisenbruch Meyer; Crystal Clay from ACE; Shirley Fountain from Endurance; Gail Miller from Oil Insurance; Brenda Tatem from Ariel Re; and Richard Winchell from ABIC. Our industry partners are not only contributing their time and experience to assist students in preparing for the insurance exams, but they are also underwriting the cost of the exams with no expense to parents.

Let me just shift to update the House about the Nursing Aid programme which provides another certification for students participating in the Career Pathways programme. Presently, there are fourteen students in the Nursing Aid programme who are expected to complete the Clinical Capstone component during the period March 30 to April 6, 2015. Upon successful completion of the theoretical exams plus the practical experience, our students will be awarded a Nurses Aid Certification. This is certainly good news! Also, a second cohort of students is already scheduled this week to participate in the Nurses Aid programme.

With respect to the Automotive Certification programme, Mr. Fernando Oliveira and his team at Noble Auto, located at CedarBridge Academy are doing a wonderful job with the students who are enrolled in the apprenticeship programme. Currently two of our students, Brandon Pimentel and Devonti Fox are in the automotive programme, and work part time at the garage. Additionally, the Employability Skills Course is positively impacting our students in that they are being readily prepared for their work placement experience and ultimately to enter the job market.

The Career Pathways Programme has been well received by industry partners. Currently, there are close to 50 industry partners including six government ministries involved in the programme. As of the first week in this month, students have already engaged in a 12-week school/career work placement exercise. Overall there are 276 students enrolled in the Career Pathways Programme of which 237 are S3 students comprising 102 males and 135 females. More than half of the students have already requested to continue in the programme in their senior year.

The Career Pathways programme continues to grow from strength to strength. In fact, there are thirteen students in the Career pathways programme who also participate in the Bermuda College dual enrolment programme. These students have been taking college courses in English Language Arts, Mathematics and Science since the start of the 2014-15 school academic year and will earn college credit upon successfully completing the courses. Four of these students are enrolled full time at the Bermuda College and will earn as Associates Degree at the completion of their study.

Due to the success of the Career Pathways Programme at the senior level, efforts are now under way to introduce the Programme to our students at the middle school level so that they are also provided with the opportunity to be prepared and equipped for the workplace.