Bermuda scored surprising well in the Adult Literacy and Life Skills study that was released last week.

The Island was rated particularly highly in the literacy parts of the study among the six countries surveyed but was slightly less successful when it came to numeracy and problem solving. Certainly, to be rated highly compared to "advanced" countries like the US, Canada, Norway, Italy and Switzerland is encouraging.

And it is especially important given the increasing need for Bermuda residents to give a high level of service sophisticated industries like insurance and money management.

The survey was designed to see how well the countries polled were placed to work in hi-tech industries where brains and skills tend to be more highly prized than brawn.

Overall, the study found that all countries surveyed, including Bermuda, needed to do better.

What is somewhat worrying for Bermuda is that the Island also showed a wide spread of skills and literacy levels, more so than a country like Norway that topped the poll.

That means that while the most highly skilled Bermuda residents compare as well or better than the best of other developed nations, Bermuda also has more people without the skills needed to function in the new economy.

That again raises the spectre, written about here before, of the creation of two Bermudas, divided between highly skilled (and highly paid) people in one part of the community and those who are unskilled and therefore struggling.

This division has added urgency because of the likelihood that even if tourism improves from its current nadir, it is unlikely to ever return to the levels reached in its heyday in the 1970s and 1980s. Instead, international business is almost certain to continue to be the driving force behind the economy and it requires higher skills than those the tourism business has traditionally required.

Of course, the skill levels in all trades and professions have changed. With computers replacing mechanical parts in everything from cars to refrigerators, all workers are going to need to be more skilled in the future.

If Bermudians are going to enjoy the fruits of the islands success more fully, then this study shows why even more effort needs to be dedicated to education and training, both in schools and in the adult world.