By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

The Bahamas needs to rapidly improve "the quality of education" if is to reduce structural unemployment and improve its competitiveness, the IMF has warned.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF), in its latest Article IV report, said progress in improving high school leaver grades "seems slow" despite having cut the proportion of "low skilled labour" in the country's workforce by more than half over the past decade.

"The average education level is increasing, but progress in improving the quality of education seems slow," the Fund concluded. "[For] the quality of education, when measured in terms of graduation rates or test scores for the high-school students, the Bahamian General Certificate of Secondary Examination (BGCSE), the improvement has been slow.

"For example, according to the [Coalition for Education Reform] report, the average grade for high school students was 'D-', with only 18 per cent of public high school students having passed the Math exam and 45 per cent of students having passed the English language exam under BGCSE in 2006.

"In 2016, the average grade moved up to 'D', and only 5.7 per cent of high school students scored a 'C' or above in Math, English and a science subject under the BGCSE, while the average score for math and English was 'E' and 'D+', respectively."

The IMF identified similar concerns with the Bahamas' vocational and technical education. "The IDB found that in November 2015, out of 1798 enrolled students in the Bahamas Technology and Vocational Institute (BTVI), only 253 students graduated in school year 2014-15," it added.

"Data from the latest labour market report by the Department of Statistics shows that in 2016-2017 school year, 187 students graduated from BTVI, with one third concentrated on office administration, and 12 or 6 per cent of the total earned degrees on information technology."

The IMF conceded there had been progress in other areas, though, adding: "The share of low-skilled labour (no schooling or only primary education) in the total labour force declined significantly from 11.6 per cent in 2006 to 4.3 per cent in 2017, and the share of labour with tertiary education increased from 25.1 to 28.6 per cent. Fifty-nine per cent of the labour force in 2017 had completed secondary education, up from 53.8 per cent in 2006."

It also credited the National Training Agency for graduating 4,500 Bahamians, without about half able to find jobs, while the 'Labour on the Blocks' initiative had resulted in 900 hirings from 4,000 participants.

"Improving the quality of general education should help sustain long-term employment," the IMF said. "Research shows that while vocational training could smooth entry of the young into the labour market, developing strong cognitive skills through general education could help sustain long-term employment.

"Boosting the quality of high school education, including on Math and English skills, is a critical step in this direction."