Driven, hard-working students are being offered the chance to prove their worth to potential employers this summer — and get paid for their efforts.

The Berkeley Foundation — a fundraising charity for the Berkeley Institute — and Bermuda College have joined forces to launch a student leadership and development programme beginning July 3.

The five-day-a-week course for 16 to 18 year olds will run until August 22 and will give the 21 young people selected to take part the opportunity to learn employment skills in a training environment and put them to use in the workplace.

Companies including law firm Conyers Dill & Pearman, Bermuda Hospitals Board and KeyTech are participating in the initiative and students will get paid for the two days a week they do in the workplace as well as a stipend for the remaining three days a week of training, so long as they report weekly on their experiences.

William Spriggs, from the Berkeley Foundation, said: "You get paid for a full week's work. But it's robust. The idea is that we are developing leaders here."

He said the scheme tied in with recommendations made in the Hopkins report on public education and represented "out of the box thinking". "Within the programme we are going to be stressing going the extra mile," he said.

Janel Sloan, director of professional and career education (PACE) at Bermuda College, said: "This gives the college the opportunity to be part of a school to work programme. PACE's mandate is workforce development.

"This is aimed at being a real world skills programme — it's to give the students a good sense of what work will actually be like."

Students who are successful at gaining a place on the pilot programme will spend Mondays and Tuesdays in training and Wednesdays and Thursdays putting the skills they have learned into practice.

Fridays will provide an opportunity for reflection on progress during the week — with the opportunity to use cameras for "digital reporting".

Mrs. Sloan said: "We are looking for people who are self-motivated and specifically interested in learning about career options. They need to be focused.

"It's not a summer camp. They will have fun but it's not an opportunity for them to come and play and make new friends. It's an opportunity to collect information and use it."

The course is open to all students aged 16 to 18 on the Island. Short list interviews will be held until June 18 and selection of participants will be made on June 20.

To apply for the course visit www.berkeleyfoundation.bm or call 239-4075 or 236-9000 extension 4119.