Government yesterday allocated $1 million in the Budget to provide Bermudians with a free Bermuda College education in the next academic year — but students will have to pass their course or pay back the fees.

Finance Minister Paula Cox told the House of Assembly: "There is provision in the education budget for students who graduate from our senior schools to enrol in an established programme at the Bermuda College on a tuition-free basis.

"However, in keeping with the value-for-money principle in public expenditure, qualifying students will be held to a passing standard in order to keep their tuition-free benefit. The Bermuda College will launch this programme in August 2008."

The college promise was first made by Government in the November 2007 Throne Speech and reiterated in the Progressive Labour Party's election manifesto.

College chairman Larry Mussenden said last night he was delighted to see Government delivering on its promise, adding that dispensing with fees removed one of the possible hurdles facing people wanting to go on to further education.

"We are grateful that the Government has seen fit to include a provision in the Budget as promised for free tuition," he said. "I think now the challenge is going to be for young people in the community to come to the college and take advantage of the free tuition. I throw that challenge out to people and to young Bermudians."

The college's grant from Government this year is $20.2 million, compared to slightly more than $18 million last year.

Overall, the Ministry of Education — currently implementing major changes to improve the crisis-hit public school system — gets a budget this year of $143.3 million, which is 13.3 percent of Government's total estimated expenditure. Last year it was $135.5 million.

Ms Cox said in her Budget address that Education, the third largest Budget item after Labour, Home Affairs and Housing ($155.1 million) and Health ($151.7 million), was paramount for Government in 2008/9.

"If we get the education model right, we get the country right," she said. "We intend to have a public education system that delivers education to fresh new generations in a way that inspires and sustains their interest."

The budget for public schools in 2008/09 is almost $123 million, compared to $117.3 million last year. Salaries make up roughly half of that amount with the number of staff expected to rise in 2008/9 from last year's estimate of 1,234 to 1,252.

The number of students, however, is dropping. The September 2007 intake for public schools (not including alternative schools) was 5,916. In September 2006 it was 6,024.

This year's Budget estimates that the average cost of educating a student in the crisis-hit public school system in 2007/08 was about $14,800.

To compare that to the annual fees of some of the Island's private schools, Bermuda High School for Girls charges between $14,500 and $16,000, Saltus Grammar School charges between $15,000 and $15,700 and Warwick Academy charges $12,255.

Education Minister Randy Horton told the media yesterday that "intensive and focused staff development activities" for teachers and principals would be a priority in 2008/09 as the recommendations from the Hopkins review into the school system are put in place.

The Budget reveals that $1.3 million has been allocated to the Education Department for training. The figure is a big leap from 2007/08 when just $593,000 was estimated and $473,000 has so far been spent. But it still falls far short of the $2.3 million actually spent on training in 2006/07.

Ms Cox said yesterday that significant money needed to be spent on education to get results. "The workers, employers and owners in this 21st Century need to be well-educated, well trained, highly skilled and motivated.

"Government is therefore doing its part, through the Ministry of Education, to develop leaders of tomorrow by our commitment to a thorough reform of the public education system, in tandem with good policies that are sustainable."

She said the objective was to "improve significantly the graduation rate of our public school students and to sustain that performance going forward".