Incoming education minister Diallo Rabain has said he is looking forward to turning his passion for education into making a real difference for the students of Bermuda.

He was sworn in yesterday afternoon along with ten other ministers and five senators as the Progressive Labour Party unveiled the nation’s movers and shakers.

The Royal Gazette spoke to some of those heading up significant ministries including former senator and ministerial newcomer Wayne Caines for national security, Walton Brown who has taken over the contentious portfolio of home affairs, and the Premier himself, David Burt, who has not only taken on the momentous responsibility of leading the country, but will also be in charge of the purse strings as Minister of Finance.

Mr Rabain admitted he had a big task on his hands heading up education which has been in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons under both the PLP’s former administration and the outgoing One Bermuda Alliance. Furthermore, the ministry has been merged with Workforce Development adding more to the already stretched workload ,but he believes he is up to the task.

Mr Rabain, who is an adjunct lecturer at Bermuda College and who has a daughter in the public education system, told us: “I am humbled to be invited into this post — it is something I feel passionate about. Workforce Development has been moved to Education and I feel there is a good synergy there because not only are we trying to educate our children, but we are trying to prepare them for jobs.

“We plan to hit the ground running. In the short term we want to get inspectors into the schools and produce reports so we know what we need to do to get them up to code in terms of health and safety.

“Secondly, we will do audits in the schools and see what type of technology base systems that we need to get in there. That initially is the huge priority — other things will come as I meet with the staff and talk about how we can do some things differently.”

The former PTA president also stressed the importance of bringing technology in the public education system up to par. The PLP’s 2017 platform stated that Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math learning will be implemented from Primary level. When asked about the Government’s level of dedication to Steam learning, Mr Rabain said: “We will be pushing Steam at all levels. My daughter is in a Steam summer day camp — I am committed to it. I have a vested interest there and in three years she will be entering into middle school and my goal is to have things moving along within that time.”

Speaking on the ongoing industrial unrest within the schools system in Bermuda, Mr Rabain added: “I just spoke to the Permanent Secretary and there is a negotiation that needs to be sorted out as well.”

Mr Burt has taken on a heavy load as both Premier and Minister of Finance — the former OBA premier Michael Dunkley eventually gave up his ministry — National Security — relinquishing it to Jeff Baron while Paula Cox juggled her roles as PLP premier and finance minister for two years before leading the party to an election defeat in 2012.

Asked whether he believed he was up to the job, Mr Burt said: “I believe I am up for the job — if I wasn’t up for the job I wouldn’t have done it. You will see the organisational structure of government — we have structured it correctly in a way that it will work.”

As Premier, Mr Burt reduced the number of ministries from 12 [under the OBA] to 11 with the notable omission of seniors but he assured us that seniors would be even more significant under the PLP than under the previous administration.

“We will be discussing seniors next week — precisely what we are going to do and what is going to come under the Cabinet Office — and it will actually get more attention than it did being lost under the Ministry of Health.”

Environment was also missing from the portfolio line-up but Mr Burt told us that it would be merged with the Ministry of Public Works.

Wayne Caines pledged that tackling gang violence was at the top of the pile of priorities and, especially in light of Wednesday night’s fatal shooting, the plan to do so would “intensify”.

Speaking more generally, he said that he would “look under the hood” and meet with the relevant agencies to see what work needs to be done.

“We want to look at the police and discuss their strategy, we want to meet with everybody at the Prison Commission to see where they are — Collective Customs we want to see what their needs are ...

“We [the PLP] want to look at each ministry — it has been four years since we were last in government. We have a clear plan and I am meeting with the PS this afternoon.”

Additional reporting by Sierra Correia