Implement reforms ‘as a matter of urgency’
Ever since the Hopkins Report, Government has been hounded for taking too long to implement it. For the OBA, extra urgency comes from the 2012 Labour Force Survey.
Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons said one-third unemployment among job-seekers in the 16 to 34 age bracket underscored the dire need for higher education and skills training, to connect Bermudians with job opportunities.
“Yet, under the current Government, meaningful education reform has not been achieved,” Dr Gibbons charged.
“The recently released GCSE examination results are unacceptably low, indicating that our public-school students are performing significantly below worldwide averages.
“The public education system invests significantly more per student than the comparable cost of a private school education. The Ministry of Education is still top-heavy and burdened with too much red tape. We have seen dramatic inconsistency in leadership, with eight Education Ministers since 1998.”
Indicating “broad support” by the OBA for the Hopkins recommendations, Dr Gibbons said Government had failed to deliver.
Unimpressed that “it took a court decision to require the Ministry of Education to consult with parents over changes in leadership at a school level”, the OBA MP said all parties invested in the system needed to communicate respectfully and listen to each other.
“The OBA’s plan for the education and training needs of Bermudians begins in preschool and continues through Bermuda College. It connects foundational education and skills training to the real-world needs of employers. It also includes those Bermudians who may have completed their formal education but need additional skills or retraining to maximise their job opportunities and take-home pay. We recognise that not everyone will complete formal education through secondary school and there must be an education safety net through GED and other vocational programmes to address their specific needs.”
Top of the Opposition’s list of priorities was to implement the key Hopkins recommendations “as a matter of urgency”.
Other key points:
l Preschool education for all Bermudian children;
l Full implementation of the Cambridge Curriculum, beyond English, maths and science, with an independent standard board to watch over results;
l The setting of “a national standard for the education system, recognising that the current Bermuda School Certificate is inadequate”;
l A technical curriculum from middle school through Bermuda College;
l A professional development centre for teachers and more training and support resources, including a master teachers’ programme;
l A longer school day, more guidance counsellors in schools, and enhanced work experience programmes;
l Exploring single-sex education for “at-risk Bermudian males”, combining the academic and technical curricula;
l Transition Bermuda College into a four-year institution in select subject areas to give more options on the Island
l A comprehensive review of special education;
l Greater autonomy at the school level;
l An Island-wide investment in continuing education and retraining.
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Published Dec 6, 2012 at 8:00 am (Updated Dec 6, 2012 at 12:47 am)