By NEIL HARTNELL

Tribune Business Editor

nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A governance reformer is warning that the latest "diabolical" BGCSE exam results will further undermine efforts to grow the Bahamian economy at the faster pace needed to recover from COVID-19.

Robert Myers, the Organisation for Responsible Governance's (ORG) principal, told Tribune Business that failing to develop a productive workforce will impair the international competitiveness of both Bahamian businesses and the wider economy unless drastic improvement is seen.

Acknowledging that the remote learning forced by the pandemic had only worsened the challenges faced by the educational system, Mr Myers said: "The challenge with this diabolical result is that there are, yet again, more young adults now in the job market who are under-educated and woefully unemployable as they do not possess the basic skills, soft skills and/or specific skills to be of value to employers.

"Unfortunately, the numbers are worse than the Ministry of Education lets on as their statistics do not account for those students that did not sit the BGCSE, or those young adults that dropped out of high school altogether.

"What these new results mean in terms of future productivity and GDP is the larger macro problem, and one that successive administrations have failed to address adequately or honestly for decades," the ORG chief continued.

"Without an educated and productive workforce, our economy will not grow at anywhere near the rates necessary to meet the fiscal demands required for social and fiscal stability. Where is the government's macro understanding and vision that will provide opportunities for future generations? Fanning people's hopes with promises and lies are no longer a believable manifesto and the people know it."

Mr Myers spoke out after the Ministry of Education last week said national exam results worsened in 2020 compared to 2019, with fewer students achieving A, B and C grades and more students receiving D, E, F and G grades compared to the year before.

The total percentage of grades awarded at 'D' or higher was lower this year than in any of the previous four years, and the overall number of test takers plummeted amid the COVID-19 crisis, according to statistics from the Ministry of Education.

The number of BGCSE candidates that received at least a 'C' grade in five or more subjects declined by 5.8 percent. The number of students that received a minimum grade of 'D' in at least five subjects declined by nine percent, and the number of candidates that received at least a 'C' in mathematics, English language and a science declined by 3.3 percent.

Overall, six percent of candidates received at least a 'C' in five or more subjects, 9.85 percent of students received a minimum grade of 'D' in at least five subjects. and 4.2 percent of candidates received at least a 'C' in mathematics, English language and a science subject.

"Successive governments continue to implement exactly the opposite policies they should be. Their nationalistic policies have further increased the cost of doing business, lowered productivity and continue to hamper GDP growth and employment," Mr Myers argued.

"If The Bahamas expects to survive in today's world then, at some point very soon, it must find a generation of honest leaders that are prepared to accept the failures of our past and have the courage and vision to plot a new course. The sobering reality is that the leadership and governance of yesterday are of no use in today's Bahamas if they continue to protect the status quo and their own self-interest.

"If the next election does not present a leader and Cabinet with the courage and vision to right the wrongs then the country will fail, just as successive governments have allowed education to fail our youth and nation today."