Implementing wi-fi in local schools was a topic discussed at the Bermuda Human Resource Association conference, which took place last week at Fairmont Southampton Hotel.

Vanessa Hardy Pickering, chief financial officer at Hamilton Re, said: “We have been talking about the challenges and opportunities of being a HR pro in the digital age.”

She believes there is a growing concern that Bermuda’s children are not being equipped with the tools and training they will need to be competitive in tomorrow’s labour force.

Some schools in Bermuda still have no wi-fi and classrooms that share no more than two laptops or computers.

“Out of school, Bermuda’s children are as screen-savvy as any that you’ll find in the developed world, maybe more so as we’re one of the most well-connected communities on the planet.” she stated.

Ms Hardy Pickering believes that for many of the island’s schoolchildren the digital reality they experience at home contrasts to an analogue one at school.

“Ultimately this presents the HR professional with a dilemma. You need a 21st century workforce. You would prefer to hire Bermudians. What do you do with a gap between what you need and the skills your local workforce brings to the table?”

Hamilton Re participated in the Top Ten Employers competition that’s organised each year by The Bottom Line magazine in which they placed fifth.

The company is the property and casualty platform of Hamilton Insurance Group. It is not alone in believing that the education system needs to improve with technology; local senators on all sides last month talked about the need to improve the education system.

Jason Hayward, the junior Minister of Education, said that the school system needed to evolve and the Bermuda Government would work to improve the educational product for pupils as well as the teaching product.

He highlighted the Progressive Labour Party’s pledge to install wi-fi in all public schools and the incorporation of the Steam Science, Technology, Engineering, the Arts and Mathematics programme into the curriculum.