Thank you all for being here today.
I echo the congratulations of Ambassador Bastian and Minister Hanna Martin, both of whom have been passionate advocates for Upskill.
I know they both share in my gratitude for the Delivery Unit in my office, under Allison Collie’s leadership.
They didn’t just help deliver Upskill for our country – they really delivered, and that’s how we find ourselves here today – full of pride for the one thousand Bahamians who have already completed their Upskill courses, and full of encouragement for the thousands more who have enrolled and are currently studying and learning.
The youngest graduate, I am told, is 16 – and the oldest is 67. The range of Bahamians participating – the range of ages, the different islands you come from, the range of your talents and your dreams – is something that moves me deeply.
A sixteen-year-old, just starting out, deciding to get ahead of the curve. And a sixty-seven-year-old, deciding that it’s not too late to learn something new, that the world still has something to offer her and she still has a lot more to offer the world.
Consider, as well, the range of courses you chose and completed, including Construction Management; Business Finance; Business Communication; Digital Marketing; Artificial Intelligence.
This list tells me that Bahamians are paying attention to where the world is going.
Construction management, because we are building – literally building – a new Bahamas, not just here in New Providence, but across our islands, and we need Bahamians leading those projects.
Business communication and finance, because our entrepreneurs and professionals are getting sharper, more strategic, more competitive.
Digital marketing, because Bahamian businesses can now reach the whole world, not just one community or one settlement or one island.
And artificial intelligence – because you understand that these new tools are coming whether we’re ready or not, and you have decided to be ready.
I am very proud of all of you – but I am not surprised. I know that Bahamian talent is the engine that will drive the next phase of our country’s development.
When we launched Upskill Bahamas, I talked about what I call the “possibility gap.”
The gap between what your skills allow you to do, and what you dream of doing.
Too many of our people have lived inside that gap for too long. You have the talent, you have the drive – but something is missing. A qualification, a skill, access to the right training.
Sometimes the most important thing that’s missing is the confidence you can learn and master something new.
Well, let me tell you something.
Every one of you, every graduate here today, decided to build a bridge across that gap.
Some of you studied during lunch breaks. Some of you studied after your children went to bed. Some of you studied on your phones, outside, because your best access to a Wi-Fi signal is one we made available in a park.
I know it wasn’t easy. I know it took a lot of determination – perhaps even more than you’d imagined when you first signed up.
But you did it anyway.
So let me ask something of you – and I’m asking all of you, not just our graduates but the friends and family here to celebrate you today – who appear to be nearly as proud of you as I am.
I want to ask all of you – to help me spread the word about Upskill.
Because Upskill is only going to get bigger and more ambitious.
Here’s how it’s going to work: we’re going to change what you’re capable of, and your new skills and expertise are going to change the country – and change what we can build and invent and create, right here at home.
In order to do this big thing – in order to change our economy, we have a challenge – which is to change how people think about education.
We can’t treat education as something that happens when you are young and then it just…ends.
You go to school. Some go to college, or even a little further, but not most of us.
In any case, after those experiences, then people consider your education to be done. You’re supposed to know everything you need to know.
But that was never true, and it is certainly not true now.
The world is changing at a pace much faster than any of us have ever seen.
Artificial intelligence is transforming industries.
The energy transition is creating entire new fields.
The way we do business, the way we communicate, the way we build and create and compete – all of it is changing.
Some of these changes represent real risks. We can’t pretend otherwise. A lot of professional worlds will be turned upside down. Some jobs will change, and some jobs will disappear. Entire sectors will look different – not in the distant future, but in a few years. The risks are real.
But these changes also represent extraordinary opportunity – if we are prepared.
That’s why we are going to expand Upskill Bahamas, so that it is central to our national development plans.
Education and training in this country will no longer be treated as something exclusively for your childhood or teenage years, or your early twenties.
We are building a Bahamas where learning is truly a lifelong pursuit – supported by your government, connected to real opportunities, and available to every Bahamian, at every stage of life.
In our first term, the work was to create and improve different pathways to success.
Upskill. The National Youth Guard. Technical and financing support for entrepreneurs. DigiLearn. Expanded scholarships and vocational training. Record enrollment in BAMSI. Expanding BTVI. The PHA Academy for careers in health care. Paid apprenticeships, in high-demand sectors. New opportunities in marine engineering, renewable energy, cybersecurity, and so much more.
Now, the work is to make sure these pathways are not islands unto themselves.
We must connect them. We must make them part of an efficient and holistic ecosystem – so that training and certifications and skills are connected, and certificates are recognised by employers, where skills lead to jobs and jobs lead to careers and careers lead to Bahamian ownership of our economy.
That’s our economic strategy.
Because here is the truth: if we have a skilled workforce, we will attract and build the kinds of investments and industries that will transform this country. We can build a technology sector. We can lead in the blue and green economies. We can develop more world-class capacity in financial services, in construction, in renewable energy, in creative industries.
I know we can build a new kind of economy here because Bahamians are ready to step up.
You are the proof of concept. You are the evidence that when Bahamians are given the tools, they do the work.
And let me tell you something…
We will all need to keep learning.
Every one of us.
The days when you could learn one trade, master one skill, and ride it all the way to the end of your work life – those days are passing.
The world will keep changing. And we have a choice: we can be overwhelmed by the change, or we can meet it with the same resilience and ingenuity that Bahamians have always shown.
You know, I’ve told said this before, but I want to share it again.
I know what it’s like to start up a ladder and see a few rungs missing.
I know what it’s like to feel you don’t know the right things, or the right people. To worry you’re missing something others have.
My mission – our shared mission – is to make sure that Bahamians never, ever stop there.
That we are there for our brothers and sisters, at that precise moment when our encouragement and support can be the difference between a dream realized instead of deferred.
To the graduates: you have done something remarkable. You have invested in yourselves, and in so doing, you have invested in your country.
To the many thousands of Bahamians enrolled in Upskill and studying: keep going. We are behind you.
And to every Bahamian thinking about signing up, wondering if it’s too late, wondering if it’s worth it, wondering if they can really do this – I want you to look at the people in this room.
They are the answer.
It is not too late. It is worth it. And yes, you can do this.
We are building a twenty-first century Bahamas – one with more pathways, more ladders, more opportunities, and more Bahamians ready to seize them.
The world will keep changing. But so will we – with confidence, and without leaving anyone behind.
May God bless you all.
And may God continue to bless the Commonwealth of The Bahamas.