Bermuda College president Michael Orenduff has slammed the Island?s education system, claiming that it is ?not good enough?.

And Dr. Orenduff also argued that students were not being given adequate training in trades and that Bermudian history and culture were not featured strongly enough in school curriculums.

Dr. Orenduff, who retires from the college in the summer after three years as president, said: ?My impression from talking to students and faculty as well as teaching a class myself, is that I feel the students here are pretty much comparable with students in the US ? Bermuda needs to do better than the US.

?The US can absorb a certain number of uneducated workers simply because it is big enough but Bermuda is too small to be able to do that.?

Referring to the college, Dr. Orenduff admitted that the facility?s curriculum was still too ?traditional? and that technical training needed to be improved.

?We need a more up-to-date curriculum but it is a slow process to change,? he told

Dr. Orenduff also regretted that he had been unable to improve the physical plant of the college during his time on the Island.

?There have been positive changes in the three years I have been here but not as much as I would have liked. I am very confident my successor will be able to pick up that ball that I?ve dropped and run with it.?

Dr. Orenduff dismissed suggestions that the college should become a university providing four year degree courses, saying that the Island was too small.

?Bermuda is too small of a catchment area. There is only about 45,000 locals the rest of the population are foreigners ? that is not enough to support a four year College,? he said.

?I also think there is a strong feeling that students need to go away and get international experience.?

On a positive note, Dr. Orenduff listed a number of improvements that had been made during his time at the helm, including a dramatic fall in the number of students dropping out.

The rate of students completing their courses has risen from 58 percent in 2000/2001 to 94 percent in 2003/2004.

?94 percent returning is very high ? it is almost scary,? said Mr. Orenduff,

During his time as president, Mr. Orenduff has changed the curriculum from a UK model to something more American.

?The old English model gave a test at the end of the semester that determined a pass or fail. Students did not know how they were doing until that time, he said.

?I like faculty to let the students know early on in the semester how they are doing.

There has also been a reduction in the number of foreign teachers at the college. In autumn 2001 there were 141 employees, of which 123 were Bermudian and 18 had work permits. There are now 134 employees of which only four are foreigners.

And Mr. Orenduff also pointed out that there was little drug or gang activity at the college.

?We have been remarkably free of gang activity. We have a very good security force here,? he said.

?Drug sellers will come by and try to sell to students but that does not happen very often.

?Kids that choose to go to school tend to be less likely to be involved in drugs.?

After his departure Mr. Orenduff believes the college will stay more or less on the same track but will have more emphasis on the technical side.

Mr. Orenduff?s successor is American Dr. Charles Green who is due to take over this summer ? no official date has been set yet.