A call was made for a national forum on training yesterday as Parliamentarians debated a housekeeping bill to strengthen the structure of the National Training Board (NTB). Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell said he was particularly concerned about the hospitality industry.

"Where are we heading with training ?" Mr. Dodwell asked. "How do we measure the performance of individuals ?"

He said the several institutions which have training as their mandate should talk more, because of a "disconnect" between them especially in the hospitality industry. And the forum, which would include the NTB, industry employers and the Bermuda College, could come up with a cohesive plan.

But ruling party backbencher and former NTB chairman Ottiwell Simmons reminded his House colleagues that it was Mr. Dodwell's party which had closed down the Bermuda Technical Institute when it was in power and said that Mr. Dodwell, a hotelier, had consistently refused to have training included in a collective bargaining agreement.

Mr. Dodwell advocated "attitudinal development" as part of the training process and said that Bermuda has not been able to convince people that tourism is important.

And he criticised the Tourism Ministry for cutting off funding for two training initiatives. "If there was ever a need for redirecting our attitude toward tourism it's right now."

But Mr. Simmons said that the NTB was taking steps in the right direction, as among its many courses, there was one being offered in Customer Service Training. He said that included in the training is teaching a person how to interact with customers and to avoid conflict.

He also embraced that Labour Minister Terry Lister was responsible for both the NTB and the prisons, as increasing prisoners' skill set will increase the number of productive citizens, he said.

While he commended the NTB for its success, Shadow Telecommunications Minister Allan Marshal suggested that the $3.1 million allotted for its operation was not enough.

"It only received four percent of Labour's budget in an economy where jobs are being lost and people are in need of retraining," he said.

Mr. Marshall also pondered whether it was in the best interest of the NTB to be strictly run by the Government.

"I'm not sure whether a Government-controlled structure is where it should be," he said.

He agreed that Government should provide partial funding but that the private sector should have a partnership in the NTB as it would ensure that it (the NTB) is successful if it has an interest in the venture.

But in his response to Mr. Marshall's comments, Mr. Lister said that the NTB did work in conjunction with members of the private sector who formed various occupation advisory committees.

Saying that he was not sure if Government had been aggressive enough with recruiting people to participate in NTB programmes, Mr. Marshall said it needed to ensure that the NTB aimed to attract those who are unemployed, underemployed and lacked sufficient skill set.

While he said that the NTB is doing a lot for the unemployed, Mr. Lister said that the he felt many Bermudians were facing a problem of underemployment and that one of the keys for an individual to accomplish their dreams was to say: "I have a goal. I have a dream to move forward. It's also up to them to see what's available at the NTB."