In discussing education in the Senate on Wednesday night, Opposition Senator Bob Richards said that one of the biggest hurdles to successful public education is the fact that parents are letting their children down.

Sen. Richards said parents seem to think that it is the state's job to educate their children, when in fact the primary responsibility is their own.

"Many home environments are not conducive to enable their children to have the self control, the discipline, self confidence and the desire to learn," he said. "I believe many of our pupils are being let down by their parents."

Sen. Richards told the Senate that television and video games are the biggest deterrents to education and he feels parents need to control how much time their children spend involved in these activities.

"When a child spends too much time in front of a screen instead of doing his homework, then it can be a problem. Substitution of TV for sport and other physical activities will be much better if the child has already done his homework," he said.

He said the "video game generation" feel they need to be entertained at all times and teachers say to the biggest problem they have is the "entertainment gap" ? the gap between how much time children spent playing video games and watching TV and how much time they spent learning. The larger the gap, the more difficult it is to teach them.

Sen. Richards also said parents are failing miserably at teaching by example. "Many homes feature parents who habitually use bad grammar and foul language and consequently children grow up thinking it's acceptable to use such language in public and at school," he said.

He said many teachers in public schools now have to endure profanity from their students while this kind of behaviour was unheard of only a few years ago.

Sen. Richards asked PLP Senator Walter Roban why the budget to student services was cut by more than $1 million in the 2005/2006 budget, when this dealt with issues like behavioural management ? something which obviously is much needed in public schools.

In his response, Mr. Roban said the money was now simply going directly to the schools.

Sen. Richards also wanted Sen. Roban to explain why the Bermuda College was not offering courses in the hospitality industry when the Government is placing so much emphasis on tourism.

"If we're serious about tourism, we have to train people in the hospitality industry," he said.

After a short exchange of words, Mr. Roban replied that the College was teaching courses, but did not go into any detail.

Meanwhile PLP Senator Neville Tyrrell told the Senate that he felt male role models are important to male students and the lack of male teachers in the public education system is notable and worrying.

Of the 413 teachers in primary school, only 12 percent are male, while in middle school only 29 percent of the 184 teachers are male. Of the 199 teachers in high school only 31 percent are male. He said teaching is a noble profession and young men need to be encouraged to pursue it as a career.