NASSAU, The Bahamas. - Over 37 percent of the 2018 graduates from the Technical Cadet Corp Programme (TCCP) were awarded full university scholarships during the graduation and prize giving ceremony held on Tuesday June 12, 2018 at the Melia Hotel. 

During the ceremony, held under the theme “Technical Transformers, Embracing Diversity in Technology,” 93 students graduated from the three year cadet programme.  Approximately 35 of them received full university scholarships and of that number eight were awarded scholarships to attend any university of their choosing. 

While delivering the keynote address, Minister of Education Jeffrey Lloyd said there is a need to level the playing field between the academic and technical areas of education in terms of financial support.  A total of 20 million dollars was spent on education over the past year, of that figure only 10 per cent was allocated to the technical area.  He noted that this figure would be increased as there is a need to expand the amount of skilled workers in the technical area. 

In addition to significantly increasing the level of funding, he spoke of the need to recruit additional Bahamian technical education teachers since presently less than 40% of the 116 technical educators are Bahamian and of that number half are nearing retirement.

Since its inception in 1990, the TCCP has become the programme of choice for high school students and has been considered the preferred route to enhance the skills of those who will venture into the technical areas of study. 

The Ministry of Education sponsors the cadet programme, and according to the Minister the support of the TCCP is in keeping with the vision of the Ministry to bring the education system in full alignment with the needs of the 21st century.

He congratulated the graduates, for not only enrolling but also completing the 3 year technical programme, and told them that they are now better positioned to embrace the ever changing diversified technological needs of the Bahamas.  

Since the present cohort of graduates started the programme in grade 10, the curriculum for the technical programme has been redrafted to further prepare students to meet the immediate demands of the employment market. 

There has been a number of new programmes added to the TCCP and some of the graduates were able to sit exams for these new courses.  The new certification courses are game changers because students who have successfully passed the courses, namely the CompTIA A+ and the Computer Aided Design (CAD), will be exempted from certain entry level college classes in fields of study such as IT Technology and Architectural Drawing.  Additionally, for students who wish to pursue a career in the Engineering or Architectural field, successful completion of the Computer Aided Design (CAD) course would qualify them to become draftsman. 

The new Microsoft MTA course titled Introduction to Java/Computer Programming, affords students the opportunity to enter careers in Computer Programming, which includes writing software for games and apps.  The Minister told the students that the high pay grades currently enjoyed by many in the technical field should further act as an incentive for the graduates to thrive and excel in their future academic pursuits.

In addition to thanking the parents and guardians of the graduates for their support of the programme, he also highlighted the sponsorship of corporate partners such as the Bahamas Telecommunications Corporation (BTC), Bahamas Power & Light (BPL), Water & Sewerage Corporation and the Broadcasting Corporation of The Bahamas (ZNS) who he credited with helping to make the cadet programme a success.

During the ceremony awards and scholarships were granted to the following students:

Most Improved Cadet: 

Pledginique Martin (Female) / Pazario Patton (Male)

Computer Aided Design (CAD): 

Dedrick Carey, Monet Nesbitt

Computer Software Award:

Darron Sweeting, Tajah Bain   

Computer Repair:

Nathan Lloyd, Christophe Pennerman

Pre-Engineering:

Amarae Ferguson, Alexandra Outten

English:

Dwayne Daley, Shanquel Seymour

Mathematics:

Armani Weise, Alexandra Outten

Radio & Television Engineering:

Sade Seymour, Thomas Ferguson, Allyssa Moxey

Water Management:

Myah Greene, Talaune McKinney, James Smith

Electronics:

Krystal Kelly, Perez Hepburn, Prezario Patton

Electrical Technology:

Sha-Na Rolle, Markia Johnson, Tahanage McKinney

Cadet of the Year Award: 

Darron Sweeting, Krystal Kelly

Scholarship were granted to the following tenable at a university of their choosing:

Louis Johnson

Tahanage McKinney

Perez Hepburn

Shanquel Seymour

Dwayne Daley

Darron Sweeting

Monet Nesbitt

Anastasia Forbes

BTC Scholarship to attend university:

Pazario Patton

BPL University of the Bahamas Scholarship:

Amaria Ferguson

Teacher of the Year Award:

Lisa Miller

Photos by Edgar Arnette, Ministry of Education