BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (CMC) – Senator Harry Husbands, the acting minister of education has welcomed the addition of tourism as a new CAPE subject, added by the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC).

The acting minister congratulated CXC for launching the Tourism subject during a ceremony on Friday, at the Accra Beach Hotel, noting that it showed the region was focusing on areas that were “acutely important to us” and in the new economy, offered “exciting employment opportunities” to young people.

Acknowledging that the new course is a good starting point in preparing students for careers in tourism, Husbands said with youth unemployment at crisis level, research indicated that they would have to be prepared to change jobs many times in their lives.

“If you are not so prepared life will pass you by. You are being prepared not only for jobs here at Accra [Beach Resort], Sandals or Sandy Lane [Hotel]. If you decide on a career in tourism remember that this is an international career,” he said.

Meanwhile, syllabus contributor and lecturer/coordinator of MSc Tourism programmes at the University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus, Dr Sherma Roberts, said the CAPE course would bridge the tourism education gap, by offering students at secondary schools the opportunity to pursue CAPE tourism as a Next Generation subject.

The launch in Barbados will be followed by others in Guyana on May 12, and with a focus on Agricultural Science; Trinidad and Tobago on May 15 focused on – Entrepreneurship; St Lucia, May 16 targeting Performing Arts; and on May 20, in Jamaica with a focus on Physical Education and Sport.