More than half of all young black males quit public schooling – study
By Ruth O'Kelly-Lynch
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Community shows concern: A packed auditorium at Berkeley Institute last night applauds as Rolfe Commissiong takes his seat after introducing speaker Professor Ronald Mincy (not pictured) at a public meeting to discuss the latest study on young black men in Bermuda.
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Photo by Mark Tatem
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What future? A study of young black males in Bermuda has found that more than 50 percent drop out of the learning system before completing their high school education.
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More than 50 percent of young black males enrolled in the public education system leave before obtaining their secondary school certificate.
And a majority of young black males are being encouraged to enter technical fields because they express an interest in using their hands and being their own bosses — something that can result in them earning less than their black female and white male peers throughout their lives.
But Columbia University professor Ronald Mincy, who compiled an in-depth report into young black males, said it was important for teenagers, parents and teachers to remember that "surgeons work with their hands".
Dr. Mincy's study is titled 'On the Wall or on the Margins? A study of employment, earnings and educational attainment gaps between young black males and their same age peers'. The 222-page report is available today on our website: click here.
The report is believed to be the first released to the public detailing statistics on young black males' educational successes and failures.
At one unnamed public school Dr. Mincy found this year's graduating class had only 52 males in it by May. The group started in S1 with 111 male students.
Of those students who left the school before graduation, 55 percent went on to obtain their General Educational Development (GED), 22 percent went to schools abroad, 15 percent switched to a technical school and 7.4 percent were home-schooled or transferred to private schools.
The study also revealed that black Bermudian men have higher unemployment rates, lower earnings, and lower employment rates in high-paying industries than white Bermudian males.
Black Bermudian male teenagers are also less likely to be enrolled in school than their white male peers, and black males aged 19 to 30 had less educational attainment than both black Bermudian females and white Bermudian males.
The report made several recommendations on how to keep youths in school and how to address the needs of those that have already left school. Education Minister El James has already indicated he will be incorporating one of the recommendations into his Ministry. It will be revealed in Friday's Throne Speech.
At a press conference yesterday, Premier Ewart Brown said the Island was failing these young men and society. He stressed the importance of encouraging young black males to enter academic fields which would prevent them from earning less than black females and white males a cause of social ills.
"As this report highlights, too many young black men are not reaching their potential in school," said Dr. Brown. "In a knowledge-based economy as we are, that's a recipe for societal disaster. In Bermuda, black men are disproportionately concentrated in industries that pay less. Black men, therefore, earn disproportionately less than any other group within our society.
"The days when we can simply say that Michael likes to work with his hands and is not academically inclined are over. As Professor Mincy has said to us repeatedly, even doctors work with their hands.
"Their potential must be realised for them as individuals and for the whole community. We can no longer afford to squander that potential. We have all seen the consequences of that approach for far too long."
He continued: "Let me point out an important truth here. Behaviours transmitted across generations and firmly fixed in our culture — some engendered by racial bigotry, intentional or not — will not be changed in a matter of months or in one or two years.
"But we must make a start and the time to do so is yesterday.
"This Government is committed to taking the lead on this issue.
"I ask all Bermuda to join us. Without your support and commitment, we will not succeed. Not only will we have failed these young men but ourselves as well."
Professor Mincy added: "Young Black Bermudian men are highly over represented among the incarcerated population in Bermuda and they are much more likely than their same-age peers to commit drug-related offences and violent crimes.
"Many in Bermuda believe, with good reason, that these are the same young men who are 'on the wall', an expression that, we believe, essentially means idle. Put differently, these young men are not working, not in school, and not making any meaningful contribution to society."
In today's Royal Gazette we look at some of the highlights of the report, interesting statistics as well as its recommendations.
Tomorrow we will look at what some of the youths who participated in the study had to say about Bermuda's public education system and their educational aspirations.
