Bermuda College should be made a Polytechnic Institute, says the chairman of the Apprenticeship and Training Council.

And Bermuda must get on with the job of providing technical training to youths and adults alike, or "we will soon be running out of walls to sit on'', Mr.

Paget Wharton told the Hamilton Lions Club.

Mr. Wharton is awaiting amendments to the 1971 Apprenticeship and Training Act which would transform the existing council into a National Training Board.

The NTB "will be a partnership between the trade unions, employers, Government departments, the Bermuda College, and the Department of Education to coordinate training initiatives as they relate to development and employment,'' said Mr. Wharton, who is general manager of Bermuda Press Ltd.

Promised by former Labour and Home Affairs Minister the Hon. Irving Pearman, legislation to create the NTB is expected to be tabled in the session of Parliament which opens in November.

It would not be a training body itself, but the NTB would monitor and evaluate training programmes, maintain national standards, analyse training needs and procure training providers.

Mr. Wharton, who is also on the board of Bermuda College, said that facility "will be the biggest training provider''.

Government was investing $3 million in a technical facility at the college's Stonington Campus which would be on line by September of 1996, he said.

But a change in name was needed to assure the needed change in "perception'' of the college, Mr. Wharton told a reporter after his luncheon speech at the Princess Hotel in Pembroke.

Last year, only about 23 people were enrolled full-time in technical courses at Bermuda College.

"That's because it's considered to be a college and not a polytechnic -- not dealing with trade and technical training in any great way,'' he said.

Access to the college should be made easier, without reducing standards, he said.

The College could replace the old Bermuda Technical Institute and offer both trades and academics by becoming a Polytechnic Institute, he said.

The college made no mention of any such intentions in a strategic plan recently approved by the college board. But, "I see it that way, and I'm not afraid to say it,'' Mr. Wharton said.

Opportunities within the trades had to first be made available to students at age 13 or 14, he said.

Presently, "students who will not be going on to further education tend to have no idea of what they would like to train for as a career and feel left out of the system,'' Mr. Wharton said.

"They have nothing to look forward to or take pride in, and consequently become frustrated and angry at a society which does not seem to care.'' Steps also had to be taken to help unemployed adults, by improving the Government Employment Office and developing retraining programmes.

National standards and licensing also had to be part of the NTB plan, he said.

Currently, "I don't think there are any standards for anybody,'' Mr. Wharton said.

And the standards should be internationally recognised so Bermudians could also work overseas.

From a health and safety standpoint, standards and licensing for trades like electricians, plumbers, carpenters, masons, and automobile and cycle mechanics were of particular concern, he said.