certificate level courses can only have been taken after a great deal of soul searching on the part of its faculty and administrators.

The change highlights a question facing public institutes of higher learning about the role they play in the community. Is the College obliged to give all those who wish to pursue tertiary education the opportunity, or should it set standards which will ensure that those who enter the College have a realistic chance of success? Any educational facility's students must have attained minimum standards of achievement on entry in order to be able to handle the work assigned. A total lack of minimum standards could result in students being assigned work which they are incapable of completing, thus wasting the time of the student and the instructor.

Until now, the College has required high school graduates to have at least a 2.0 grade point average -- the equivalent of a C average -- for admission. It should be noted that the requirements for diploma courses, which often lead to a transfer to an overseas university, remain higher.

On the face of it, the standard previously required was reasonable -- it meant the student had passed all his or her high school courses. The college has now lowered that requirement to a 1.5 GPA -- the equivalent of a C- or a D average -- in their last two years of high school, in effect a failing grade.

While the College said it was keen not to assign blame anywhere, it should be clear that it has had to make this change in part because the Island's secondary schools are not turning out sufficient students at the old standard.

Former College president Archie Hallett says as much in a story in today's newspaper.

The College -- which has worked extremely hard to gain a reputation abroad which will enable its students to be enrolled at virtually any institution in North America or Britain. Unfortunately, the College has been unable to convince all qualified high school leavers of this, meaning some go directly to colleges at great expense and return with diplomas which are hardly worth the paper which they are written on.

This in turn has resulted in declining enrolment at the College and may have be another reason for the lowering of admissions standards.

By the same token, it is wrong to deny admission to bright students who may have performed poorly in high school but now want to learn. Many people who wasted their high school years turn out to be superb students and high achievers in later life.

A publicly-owned college -- especially at a time when demand for trained Bermudians able to work in all professions and trades is higher than ever -- has a responsibility to give people a chance to rise and succeed.

But this should not be done at the expense of lower standards at the College.

It should remain a college in the truest sense of the word, not a remedial centre making up for the failings of the secondary system. More stringent requirements for graduation should do something to negate that risk; but College administrators will need to monitor this change carefully to ensure that in opening admissions to more students, its standards remain at the high level they have worked so hard to achieve over the years.