to the future of Bermuda.

Sen. Lynda Milligan-Whyte said: "This is a very important topic which affects not just this particular generation of children, this particular generation of parents or businessmen and women who will be hiring Bermudians in the future.'' She was speaking as the Senate examined the Education Act 1996, which aims to reform the entire education system.

Provisions include the creation of so-called "mega-schools'' for senior secondary pupils and separate middle schools for younger secondary pupils, as well as controversial proposals for a code of conduct and drugs testing for pupils.

School boards will also be set up so parents have a voice in the running of schools.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said Government had underlined its commitment to education by consulting 185 people and were prepared to invest $118 million to back its plans.

She added the proposals were aimed at providing equal opportunities for all Bermudian children.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said: "It has to be said that entire educational framework includes both the private and public schools and it impacts on the maintained schools.'' She added opportunities for children with learning difficulties would also be increased.

But UBP Sen. Larry Scott -- who said he had a personal interest in special needs education -- said Education Minister Jerome Dill had not paid enough attention to the concern of parents of special children.

He said he had given advice to a group of concerned parents who were worried that the new act softened their rights as parents.

Sen. Scott said: "I think at the end of the day we are disappointed that he wasn't able to go as far as we would have liked.

"We will continue to fight for needs of special needs children and we believe we will have more success next time around.'' Sen. Neletha Butterfield (PLP) said the act had been "a long time coming.'' She agreed it was an important piece of legislation -- and said Senators should be careful not to rush through it quickly "for the sake of using a rubber stamp -- we must carefully discuss the contents.'' And she called for all schools to be given the same curriculum and equipment -- and for nursery schools to come under the authority of the Education Minister.

She added until Government could provide sufficient pre-school places, grant aid should be given to provide extra private places.

Sen. Butterfield said: "Many children aged three or four have been turned away from nursery schools.'' She added Government should also make sure classrooms were up to scratch and that discipline should be maintained by mediation and special peer group meetings.

Sen. Butterfield said: "Schools should teach more moral guidance. Schools must be seen to teach more values, self-esteem and discipline -- and school boards should be elected.'' She added "far too many'' pupils were not going on to higher education.

Sen. Butterfield said: "I believe these are pressing issues in the code of conduct, especially in the area of drug abuse.'' Sen. Alf Oughton (Ind) said the act was "a very sound basis on which we can move forward and build.'' He added that attention being paid to vocational training was "long overdue,'' but that the act went a long way to making up lost opportunities.

Sen. Scott said education was unlike most experiences because everyone went to school and Government had consulted widely with the public.

Sen. Scott explained that special needs children ran the gamut and included autistism, deafness, blindness, mental retardation, orthopaedic problems and speech or emotional disturbances.

And he said given this vast range of conditions, he did not believe special needs children were not given enough attention in the Education Act.

Currently he said two ministries, Education and Health and Social Services, were responsible for working on these issues although he was unable to say exactly which department within the Ministry was directly responsible when he was asked by Sen. Terry Lister.

Sen. Scott said there needed to be a new mind set regarding special needs children because not all of them have severe problems. However he said the Ministry needed to focus more precisely.

Sen. Scott chided PLP Shadow Minister Jennifer Smith for being "mainstream'' in her amendments to the Education Act.

Sen. Yvette Swan said Government should welcome the Education Act 1996 as a "very gallant step'' taken by the Ministry of Education.

She said it was important for the restructured education system to ensure that each child has the opportunity to produce the best of which they are capable.

Independent Senator Norma Astwood said the Education Act was 40 years in the making and predates many of the changes in the education system.

Some of the changes included the extension of the school leaving age and the de jure end of segregation in the school system.

The seminal question she said was how do the present changes facilitate the direction Government is taking the Country.

Meanwhile, Sen. Lister said the Education Act 1996 was really about the face and shape of Bermuda.

He said the two recent killings of Rebecca Middleton and James Caines were ultimately the fault of the education system which he said was a failure.

Sen. Lister said he was offended when he saw persons who have their children in private schools sitting on boards or making decisions about Public Education.

"I haven't seen anything in the Education Act that admits that we have a problem that starts in the primary school level,'' he said.

He said he would like to see the issue of zoning addressed and said he had concerns about the appointment of school boards and the methods used to select its members.

Sen. Lister said he preferred to see the school boards dominated by members of the Parent-Teacher Associations with the Ministry responsible for handling the money.

Sen. Milton Scott (PLP) said the Education Act 1996 was one of the most important bills to be debated in the Upper Chamber because it forms the blueprint for the 21st century.

Yet he said the number of different ministers to handle the Education portfolio has presented its own set of problems.

Furthermore the organisations that were asked to give input to the process found that little came of their efforts.

Consequently it ended up being just another public relations exercise.

Sen. Scott said he was uncomfortable supporting a bill that did not clearly set out the assessment instruments, or curriculum for the new Senior and Middle Schools.

He said the area of drug testing worried him because it raises constitutional points that would arise if a child refused a drug test and is denied an education as a result.

Moreover he said the Ministry of Health and Social Services does not have an adequate drug treatment programme for young people.

Sen. Noela Haycock said it does not matter how well the Education Act 1996 was done or how concerned legislators are in the future of Education in Bermuda if parents were not ensuring that their children ate breakfast before they went to school or had their homework done.

She said parents had to take responsibility for these issues so that the schools can get on with the job of educating.

Sen. Haycock said it was important to note that there were many students in school who are motivated and willing to learn.

She said she disagreed with Sen. Lister on the subject of school boards. She said they should not be PTA members alone on the boards. Instead he said they should come from all sections of the community so that a more representative mix is obtained.

But the debate failed to finish and Senators scheduled another sitting next Wednesday on the controversial act.

Earlier, Sen. Gary Pitman (UBP) said that all Senators had "expressed an outrage about the scourge of drugs in our society.'' He added: "I would hope that we would agree that this section is very important.

"We must do everything we can to stop our children getting involved in drugs and when drug abuse is found in our schools system we must do everything we can to ensure that the children involved get treatment.'' Senate President Albert Jackson (Ind) drew parallells between the new act and the Education Act of 1954.

He said that had broken new ground in terms of lengthening the school career of children and guaranteeing education irrespective of race, nationality or religion.

Sen. Jackson added that the new act in many ways was not as revolutionary as the 1954 one.

But he added: "It's certainly an important document and certainly wider than the 1954 Act and it brings into prominence the role of the Minister of Education.'' Summing up, Sen. Milligan-Whyte said the: "There is a fundamental need to commit to the restructuring of our education system.

"By voting in favour of this bill we are voting to make every Bermudian child a winner in our education system.'' She added the philosophy of the bill had been questioned by a number of Senators.

But she said: "We want to create a system which values and addresses each students' special needs. We hope this bill as it's drafted will basically go a long way to addressing some of the major problems addressed by Senators today.

"We are an evolving society and the bill will give the Minister the ability to deal with these evolving issues.'' She said the Opposition may disagree with some aspects of the bill -- particularly drug testing.

But she added: "What we do agree on is that we love this Country and we want an educational system which makes everyone a winner -- we have to reach for the XYstars in order to achieve everything.''