The Foreign Language Cadet Programme

The Foreign Language Cadet Programme is a Ministry of Tourism sponsored language enhancement programme that offers exposure and immersion in Spanish and French. The programme offers spots to ten students of grade eleven from 10 different New Providence High schools. Students are selected through a competitive qualifying examination, held annually on the last Saturday in November.

The Foreign Language Cadet Programme was launched by the Ministry of Tourism in February 2004. Through the Foreign Language Programme The Ministry of Tourism seeks to stimulate and create an incentive for the study of foreign languages among high school students. This initiative is part of a national plan for tourism development which has as its objective to lay the ground work for the widespread acquisition of foreign languages to address the growing needs of our economy.

Through this school outreach programme, The Ministry seeks to generate a talent pool of bi-lingual, young professionals to service our tourism industry and our economy.

^return to top

Adopt-A-School Programme

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism and Bahamas Hotel Association (in concert with the Caribbean Tourism Organization?s mandate to place focus on the youth for the future growth and development of the tourism industry), introduced the Junior Minister of Tourism initiative through the Adopt-A-School Programme which was launched in 1992. The Adopt-A-School Programme at that time focused primarily on a national arts and essay competition based on an annual visit to the adoptive hotel.

In 1998, the Adopt-A-School Program was re-launched under a new name, the Bahamas Hotel Association?s (BHA) Hospitality Opportunities through Experiential Learning (H.O.T.E.L.) and began to make regional ties with the Caribbean Hotel Association (CHA). The Caribbean Hotel Association also mandated that all its members use the Bahamas? Adopt-A-School Program as a template to attract the brightest and best talent from their school systems, encouraging them to pursue tertiary education and return home for a career in the tourism field.

^return to top

Caribbean Tourism Youth Awareness Program

CTO invited member countries to participate in its first annual Caribbean Tourism Youth Awareness Program in 2000, and the H.O.T.E.L. Adopt-A-School Program was already implemented in conjunction with the Ministry of Education and easily coordinated the regional projects. These project involved a poster competition, school project (St. Augustine?s School went on to win the regional competition and its project was prominently featured at the Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC).

The school also won a computer, scanner and printer from CTO), photography competition and debating competition for the Youth Congress participants. The latter project birthed the idea of a Junior Minister of Tourism in The Bahamas. The Caribbean Tourism Youth Congress is held during the CTC Conference, with the first competition held in Barbados in 2000.

The CTC Congress is a mock Caribbean Tourism Organization Board of Directors meeting (similar to Youth in Parliament) where the Ministers and Directors General debate regional tourism issues. The students debate on tourism issues and CTO takes their recommendations to the Heads of Governments. The audience comprises CTC delegates, Ministers of Tourism, Directors-General, members of the travel trade and national tourism organization officials. ^return to top

H.O.T.E.L

At its inception H.O.T.E.L was inadequately funded and had to network with other agency programs to stage events. Due to limited funding and time, the Debating Competitions were never held and the two best speakers from the National Debate were selected by the Ministry of Education through its Student Affairs Division to participate in the Congress.

However, the opportunity came to upgrade the program when the Bahamas Hotel Association agreed to the proposal to make H.O.T.E.L. more appealing (like its competitors; Junior Achievers and Technical Cadets) by filtering its scholarship through the program. The Mentoring Program that attached the best overall 11th grade student to their Adoptive hotel for four weeks internship was the way to go.

^return to top

Corporate Mentoring Program

The Hotel Mentoring Program is a ten-week mentoring course and interactive approach to learning about the tourism industry for business students representing the brightest and the best in grade 11 from each of the 18 schools in the Adopt-A-School Program. During the ten weeks of mentoring, general sessions are held which cover topics such as the importance of tourism to the Bahamas economy; careers within the industry; hotel operations (front office, food and beverage, housekeeping, engineering & maintenance, human resources, sales & marketing, accounting, information systems and security) and are taught by the Ministry of Tourism and hotel senior executives.

The students also visit their hotel and are treated to lunch. (every hotel does this for their adoptive school). The students also receive weekly quizzes and a final exam. At the end of the course, the overall best student (leadership skills, personable, scoring in the top 5) is selected to represent their school in the Corporate Mentoring Program. The Program is also in the form of an internship (stage two) at their adoptive hotel where they rotate through each department of the hotel. In preparation for the paid-four-week internship, the H.O.T.E.L. Adopt-A-School hosts an orientation seminar for the students, guidance counselors and hoteliers at a hotel.

On completion of the internship (stage two), senior school administrators and executives in the Hotel Industry and give the students a final evaluation. While interning students observe and make recommendations by way of an essay competition, on the improvements that their hotel can make in the short term. The students are evaluated and automatically entered into the Junior Minister Speech competition. They enter the competition with a main score comprising their course, essays, and mentors' evaluations. The students with the top six scores are entered into the final round and the winner named the Junior Minister of Tourism.

^return to top

Travel & Leisure Tourism Youth Congress

The mission of the Youth Congress is to introduce Caribbean students to the fundamental role of tourism in the growth of their countries, to spark dreams and ambitions and to create strong leadership among their generation. The 5th Annual Tourism Youth Congress, sponsored by the Caribbean Tourism Organization and Travel & Leisure Magazine in collaboration with the Naismith International Basketball Foundation and Air Jamaica, will take place during the Caribbean Tourism Conference (CTC-28) in October 2005.

The venue for CTC-28 has yet to be announced. As in the past, a number of attractive prizes will be awarded to the participants that excel in putting their ideas across in a convincing and lively manner. The Tourism Youth Congress has grown in stature over the past four years such that last year's event was deemed one of the highlights of CTC. The concept of the Junior Minister of Tourism? has been incorporated into the Youth Congress and adopted by many countries in the region, as they see this as an opportunity to expose the brightest and best to the excitement and dynamism that tourism offers as a career opportunity.

^return to top

The National Apprentice Chefs Programme

Apprenticeship, in simple terms is training in occupations that require a wide and diverse range of skills and knowledge.

The Apprentice Chef?s Programme at the College of The Bahamas is a certified programme with the American Culinary Federation and administered by the Bahamas Culinary Association and the National Apprenticeship Board.

The Programme requires students to complete six thousand (6000) hours or three years job training, and systemic theoretical instruction by qualified professionals.

With its combination of practical and theoretical instruction, students are exposed to every facet of the operation and maintenance of a commercial foodservice kitchen.

Upon completion, successful students receive an Applied Associates Degree from the College of The Bahamas as well as a certificate of completion and initial certification as Certified Culinarian from the American Culinary Federation.

The mandate of The Programme has always been to provide trained culinary leaders for the Foodservice Industry.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS

Admission to The College of The Bahamas is not an automatic admission to all courses or programmes.

- Students with five BGCSE’s with ‘C’ or better in Math and English. (DIRECT ENTRY INTO THE APPRENTICE ASSOCIATES DEGREE).

- For the purpose of admission, college-level placement in English Language and Mathematics in the College placement/ placement Examination are considered as equivalent to GCE Ordinary Level passes or BGCSE in these subjects.

- Students without five or more BGCSE’s grade ‘C’ or better will be required to take a placement test administered by The College of The Bahamas. The placement will determine their status in Math and English. Students will be eligible for entry into the Culinary Skills Programme after meeting the following requirements.

- Students who successfully complete the Culinary Skills college prep programme are also eligible to apply for the Apprentice Chef Programme.

ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

High School Diploma or equivalent

High School grade point average of 2.5 or better

Entry Interview (to be conducted by school officials)

Portfolio Accomplishments:

Community Service;
Sports;
Clubs;
Leadership Activities

Prior to entry into the Apprentice Chefs Programme all students will be interviewed by members of the Apprenticeship Committee

Credit for Previous Experience

An applicant for Apprenticeship may be allowed maximum credit of 2,000 hours on the terms of Apprenticeship for that portion of his/her experience which is equivalent. Previous experience along with past wages and work stations must be submitted and approved by the Apprenticeship Committee.

 ^return to top

COB Jumpstart

This program is just one of the initiatives of COB to provide more opportunity and broader access to its high quality education. Jumpstart affords the highly motivated and ambitious high school student the opportunity to earn college credits while still in high school and provide them with a jumpstart on college by taking college credits during the summer semesters and regular school year. ^return to top

Conde Nast Essay Competition

For the past several years the Ministry of Tourism through its Tourism Youth Awareness Unit, has engaged in several initiatives designed to bring more awareness of our Tourism Industry and to help students to further explore and showcase their gifts. The Ministry of Tourism, Bahamas Hotel Association and Toastmasters have partnered again with an Essay and Speech Competition.

Last year, Jonnajah Boodle of Saint Francis de Sales, Abaco, won the Speech Competition and Ferre Cambridge from Mary Star of the Sea, Grand Bahama, won the Essay Competition. Jonnajah was given the opportunity to deliver her winning speech to audiences that included our Prime Minister, Rt. Hon. Hubert Ingraham as well as industry partners and professionals from the Bahamas and our neighboring Caribbean States. Ferre represented The Bahamas in Puerto Rico along with students from 33 Caribbean States. His performance was both exciting and memorable.

This local contest is a prerequisite to the Bahamas participating in the CTC Conde Nast Essay Competition which has successfully ?introduced the benefits of tourism to the children of the region, and has broadened their spectrum of life?s opportunities? for more than 15 years. Now, with the partnership of BHA and Toastmasters, the competition will be the biggest and keenest that we have embarked upon for the Primary schools.

Rules of the competition:
- Bahamian students between the ages of 8-12 years old from Primary or Junior High Schools
- Each contestant should not have passed his/her twelfth (12th) birthday by October 30th, 2008.

The essay must be related to the topic:
- If you could share a secret about your island with someone visiting for the first time, what would it be??
- Each entry must be neatly written in the contestant?s own handwriting, double spaced, on lined sheet of paper. Entries should contain no less than 250 words and no more than 500 words.
- The students with the top 20 essays will compete in the speech competition.

May 5th, 2008 Essay and Entry forms are due to school’s guidance counselor
May 5-8th, 2008 Three finalists must be selected by each participating school and submitted to Ministry of Tourism Offices
May 9th, 2008 Essays are due to the Industry Training Department, no later than 4pm
Judging begins for the Essay Competition:
May 13th, 2008 Preliminary Essay Judging
May 14th, 2008 Essay Judging
May 15th, 2008 Schools will be notified of the students eligible for the speech competition
May 22nd, 2008 Top twenty contestants will deliver his/her speech at the final round of the Speech Competition (venue to be determined)

Your school stands to win up to $500.00 and the student with the winning Essay entry, will be awarded an all-expense paid trip to the British Virgin Islands where the Caribbean Tourism Conference will be hosted. The winning Speech Competition student and school will receive cash prizes. Attached are the entry forms and additional information on the competition. If you have questions, please visit our Website, bahamastourismcareers.com or contact Ruthann Rolle, Manager, Tourism Youth Awareness at 242-326-5179 or the local Tourism Board on your island.

^return to top