One of the greatest challenges facing Bermuda's youth is that many of them lack employable skills and without such, their options are limited and some get caught up in a lifestyle of behaviours that invariably lead them before the courts.

Bermuda College President Dr. Charles Green feels the College possesses the greatest potential for increasing the productivity of our youth and will be partnering with the Department of Corrections to develop a training programme to help lower the rate of recidivism on the Island.

In addressing the Hamilton Rotary Club yesterday, Dr. Green said this training would take place within the prison as opposed to the campus.

Another initiative by the College is the admission of anyone to the College, irrespective of whether or not they graduated from school.

"One of the challenges facing Bermuda's youth is their lack of preparation for College-level work. Nearly 50 percent of the College's student intake from the public schools requires at least some remedial coursework," he said.

He added that it was important to note that under-preparedness was not across the board.

"When you get nearly half of your students needing help with basic subjects like English and Maths before they can begin to take on College-level instruction, it is a cause for concern," he said.

Dr. Green said the Minister and education officers were aware of the problem and the question remained as to what everyone was prepared to do about it.

"The College, rather than just invite them to come and put these students on the three, four of five-year plan for graduation, we're going to do a bit more. We will be introducing mandatory classes for every under-prepared student who arrives on our campus on a fixed class schedule that will enable them to be prepared for College level courses sooner," he said.

He said a five-year plan would no longer be accepted as a reasonable option.

However, for those on the other end of the spectrum, there was a third initiative being introduced by the College.

Bermuda College will be working with public and private high schools to develop an accelerated college programme for high achievers that will allow them to graduate from high school with a college associate degree.

"The accelerated programme will accommodate high academic performers and introduce them to a first-year college-level coursework in S3, or the third year of high school. And in S4, their last year of high school, they will begin their second year of College-level coursework," he said.

Upon graduation, these students will have conferred gained their high school diplomas as well as their associate degree from Bermuda College.

"This means that these students can now leave high school at the age of 18 and enter into their junior or third year of university and have the potential to graduate with a baccalaureate degree before they reach their 21st birthday," he said.

Dr. Green said the College was also working on initiatives to establish a college stream specifically for working adults.

So for the first time in the College's 30-year history, cohort groups on weekends and possibly weeknights will be introduced in the future to allow non-traditional students to obtain an associate degree.

Dr. Green ended his talk by saying that Bermuda College's mission was to set Bermuda's students, all students, on the path to success and as president of the College, failure was not an option.