Editorial
Training Caymanians:
A priority for stability
There are many subjects under the sun onwhich it seems that everything possible has been said many timesover, so that there is really nothing new to be said. Yet, ifa thing was true in the first place, the fact that it hasn't becomereality is no reason to stop speaking out.
So, while the topic was not new, it is obviouslya subject that demands close attention and must concern anyonewith an interest in Cayman's future.
This is a problem that can only be solvedby the greater effort of all people involved. For, like all problemsthat defy solution, this is one where there is blame to be sharedfairly evenly.
It was hardly likely, of course, that peoplefeel free to suggest that Government has not done its part, andthe facts and future suggest that they are: making a considerableeffort.
Yet, one can feel free enough to questionhow much is the government and the private sector really awareof, and committed to, the training needs of the young people ofthis country. Are they really doing all they can to alert ouryoungsters to the dangers of a 'slapstick' attitude towards jobsand training, which can be so often found in job applications?
Many years ago, Mrs. Joy Basdeo - now thePermanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education - in her thencapacity as Chief Education Officer, laid it on the line by tellingyoung people that there is more to a job than salary, benefitsand vacation time. Some of them, she said, "show a basicimmaturity that this country can ill afford."
Well said but she did not allow, andrightly so, that they have grown up in a time of prosperity: "whena fat pay cheque, a new car and several trips to Miami each yearseem within everyone's grasp." Again, well said. But it needsto be said again and again.
Our youngsters must learn that they aredoing themselves and their country a bad turn if they don't acceptthe need for training both before they get a job and continuingas they work their way up the ladder. If they don't, the CaymanIslands will still have the need to import an abundance of expatriateskills in five and ten years hence, if the young people do notstay in their jobs and learn, instead of jumping around.
Both Government and the private sector haveto get together on this problem. It seems as if 20 years laterboth parties are still dragging their respective feet with theyoung Caymanians being held hostage in the middle.
Ms. Basdeo, the educator once said: "it is easier and quickerto process a work permit than to commit $75,000 to train a student."
It is a fact that many private sector employerswould rather hire a Caymanian who would remain on the job, butit could also be admitted that figures of a couple of dozen studentsstudying abroad on scholarship from the private sector is smallcompared with Government Scholarship offered.
Nevertheless, it takes two to tango, andthere are instances where scholarships have been available withoutstudents coming forward qualified and motivated to take them.Additionally, it would be amiss of us not to mention that thereare cases of qualified Caymanians not being able to get a jobbecause the expatriates are so entrenched in the positions.
The key thing for Cayman's youngster isthat they have the right motivation instilled in them. If theyleave school believing that as Caymanians they can command jobswith ever-rising pay and prospects without their commitments towork and studying hard, then they are in for a troublesome future - and so is Cayman.