The Tribune

RECOGNISING her longstanding support for programmes that bring business and education together, the Bahamas Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) and Prime Minister Perry Christie have presented educator Ruth Gardiner with the annual Business-Education Partnership Award.

The award was announced at BHTA’s recent 60th Anniversary Celebration Ball. Ms Gardiner is currently an instructor at the College of the Bahamas Culinary and Hospitality Management Institute (CHMI).

The BHTA’s president, Stuart Bowe, said: “’Education has been a key part of BHTA’s work since the late 1970s, when Brendan Foulkes became the first recipient of our scholarship programme.

“Since that time, several hundred Bahamians have received scholarships and have gone on to make their mark in our industry. Our various education and training programmes are made possible thanks to industry support and the dedicated work of many of our partners in education.

“This year we literally had hundreds of industry volunteers working in the schools and on various education and training projects”, he added.

“Ms Gardiner is a standout volunteer who has worked on many initiatives for a number of years to bridge the education and industry needs gap. She exemplifies the true spirit of partnership - serving on our awards selection committees, as a founding member of our workforce development committee, and a reliable resource for numerous projects.”

Ms Gardiner was recently appointed as the workforce development director on the Board for the Caribbean Tourism Organisation (CTO).

She is the third recipient of the award, following former permanent secretary, Elma Garraway, at the Ministry of Education, who received the award in 2010, and Ministry of Education Career and Technical Education Officer, Sharon Ferguson, the 2011 recipient.