The National Training Board is making an effort to bring technical studies back into the schools, according to the Minister of Education.

The programmes in the works will be implemented at CedarBridge Academy and Berkeley Institute.

Education Minister Terry Lister said: "My hope and goal is to first get the new high school open. Then to identify people who can lead the courses and broaden the course selection."

Mr. Lister pointed out how Bermuda had technical training in the schools for many years but it was taken out in the 1970s.

"There is a bevy of courses for which we will take a maximum of five ? they are all various trade areas that we want to expose students to."

Power tool handling, blueprinting, basic technical math, and electrical training are a few of the possible future course that will be available at CedarBridge and Berkeley.

Mr. Lister said of these subjects: "We may add to them. But they are a good spring board to other areas ? that is why they have been chosen."

He revealed how the Ministry and NTB are currently working on bringing these programmes into the high schools but eventually hope to introduce them in to middle schools.

With the introduction of trade programmes in to the schools, Mr. Lister said: "We are looking at how to funnel together the NTB and the Ministry of Education."

Mr. Lister emphasised the importance in introducing certain programmes early on in a child's academic career.

"Employers will be hiring someone who is not just 17 but 17 with solid skills and a good pay cheque becomes a fair exchange."

He gave an example of culinary and waiter programmes that were taken out of high schools years ago, saying: "Culinary training was taken out of the schools because people thought that students would just study it at the Bermuda College later. But they found that the numbers at the College became low for those enrolled in the culinary arts. The interest disappeared after they finished high school."

Mr. Lister's desire is to have "a mirror" at both schools. He hopes to offer the same programmes at both Berkeley and CedarBridge.

"I am committed to seeing the two are the same."

Michael Stowe, a board member of NTB said: "It is quite feasible that Berkeley's lab will have the capability to engage in boat building."

Mr. Stowe described boat building as a "lost art" in Bermuda.

Mr. Lister discussed some challenges that NTB faces saying: "Sometimes we run in to challenges if we are doing a course at the Bermuda College and cannot find a teacher, but normally that problem does not last long."

He said some students who were enrolled in the apprenticeship programmes failed to attend.

"Those students who do not attend we find out about quickly."

Asked if apprentices who do not attend regularly get expelled from the programme he said: "That is up to the employer."

In order to engage in an apprenticeship with the NTB one must already have a job in the field of interest.

Mr. Lister added: "We have warm relationships with employers so we are not keen to sell our case to individuals. We prefer to sell to companies."

One exception to this is the chef search programme, which is more individual based, he said.

Two programmes that were not particularly successful for the NTB were butcher and dentist programmes.

"There are very few Bermudian butchers here so, we asked what can we do about this. We went to the employers and asked ? how can we collectively develop a butchers programme? We devised one but no one really came forward.There was not an interest to study butchery.

"Bermuda suffers from the number of jobs we have available. Some jobs lose out because people have the ability to pick and choose what they do."

He shared the difficulty with the dentist programme saying: "We put a lot of energy together with the Dentist Association to develop a dental technicians programme but we only managed to get about four people.

Mr. Lister's main objective is to reduce the number of people who leave school unprepared for work.

"Our responsibility is to prepare students to be functioning members of Bermuda's society."