Business leaders reacted to the news of the graduation statistics by urging Bermuda's education bosses and students to raise their game for the sake of the Island's future.

Chamber of Commerce vice president and restaurateur Philip Barnett, said: "That we are allowing our children to fail like that is unfortunate. I'm Bermudian and we want to know that they are going to be able to succeed the most in their own country, but what we have to understand is that we live in a world wide market place. No way are we going to be able to succeed unless we have the necessary tools. Education is the number one tool."

Such is the concern of Chamber members that they met with Premier Ewart Brown about it when he was first elected leader.

"We were pleased to hear he shared our views," said Mr. Barnett.

Asked what was happening to those who fail to graduate, he said: "The thing about Bermuda is there's just so much need for workers they may end up getting a job that they may not necessarily be educationally qualified for. They are not able to advance, and expatriate workers advance ahead of them."

Peter Everson, president of the Chamber of Commerce, questioned whether those who are managing to graduate are being judged by a high enough benchmark in comparison with the rest of the world, and whether Bermudians are being given a good enough education to compete in the international job market.

"We often compare ourselves to the US, but the US standards are not that high on a global scale," he said.

He added that Government had in the past struggled to say what those who fail to graduate end up doing. In days gone by, he said, the construction and hospitality industries may have offered opportunities, but these were increasingly becoming "knowledge based" in the skills they demand.

Asked the reason for the poor graduation rates, Mr. Everson said he believed the issues were multiple, but called into question whether the public education sector has too many overheads and not enough teachers.

"There are 1,200 people on the payroll at the Department of Education. Are there too many at head office and not enough in schools? Are we getting value for money?" he asked.

Education Minister Randy Horton said it was in the interests of the business community to help solve the problem.

"If we have a first class public education system, producing people with high levels of skills, they don't have to bring in as many people from overseas. They are very supportive of what we are trying to do and they are working very hard to come up with plans in order to improve the workforce of Bermuda," he said.