Secondary school education should be split into two tracks — academic and vocational — to prepare graduates for the real world, George Town South candidate Alric Lindsay said.
Lindsay made his comments on the Cayman Crosstalk radio show Thursday. Incumbent Barbara Conolly was invited but did not attend.
Lindsay said the approach for years seems to have been to steer students toward the financial services sector and other professional occupations, without consideration for other industries.
He said a large portion of education funding should go toward vocational education.
“I believe that we need to have 2 diplomas at the high school level. One is a vocational diploma, and one which is a traditional diploma, which leads to financial services, accounting, law, [medicine],” he said.
Lindsay said the current standards are causing many talented children to miss out.
“If we have a vocational track in the high school system, we could easily have professionals coming into the high school to teach those classes on a volunteer basis or a partial-pay basis,” he said.
Lindsay also said the creation of an advanced vocational school could further help train students after high school.
“The point is making sure that these children are ready to work when they end up in the real world,” he said.