The Ministry of Education will not move forward with two of the Hopkins Report recommendations.

Education Minister El James told the House of Assembly on Friday that his Ministry will not form cluster boards or create a federation of secondary and tertiary education because the school leaving age has already been raised.

The 2007 Hopkins Report which investigated the state of the public school system, described it as being "on the brink of meltdown". It has been argued that little improvement has been made since.

In addition to scrapping the recommendations, the Ministry will also be focusing on three goals for the public school system.

Mr. James said a list of "proposed target student outcomes" was written by stakeholders to possibly be implemented into a five-year strategic plan.

"The result was the identification of three system goals for the Bermuda public schools system — all students will demonstrate advances achievement that enables them to compete globally, all students will demonstrate moral, social and ethical behaviours that ensure success in school and life and all students will demonstrate healthy fitness and wellness lifestyles."

Mr. James said in addition to improving the quality of teaching, implementing the Cambridge Curriculum and developing strong school leadership, the Ministry also has four strategic priorities for the year.

They include facilitating the improvement of standards via accountability and transparency, improving the efficiency of delivery of the educational product, maximising the contribution of parents and the community and improving the school culture and climate.

The Minister also reiterated that no schools will be closing in September.

"I know there has been a lot of discussion on this topic in the press over the last few weeks and I hope this puts the fears to rest", he added.