Despite concerns expressed by members of the public earlier this yearabout the Ashay: Rites of Passage Class offered to pupils at Dellwood Middle School, the Commission for Unity and Racial Equality (Cure) has given the class a thumbs up.

In January local businessman, Douglas Howe accused the school of being racist in offering the class which he said had everything to do with religion and nothing to do with history.

As a follow-up to the incident, Cure officials visited the school recently and sat in on one of the classes.

Cure executive officer Myra Virgil said in a statement yesterday that two officers sat with students participating in the class taught by Mwalimu Melodye Mic?re Van Putten.

During the lesson the class reviewed some Ashay concepts, such as the meaning of ?maat? as truth, justice, righteousness, harmony, balance and order; and ?consciousness? as being awake, alert and aware.

Ms Virgil said officers were impressed by the student?s familiarity with the concept, which was delivered at times with song, but also with the exercise of moving from theory to practical self-delivered applications.

She said they appreciated the consistency of the message on being prepared for life with ?must have skills? such as reading, writing, counting, computer literacy and self-discipline.

?These premises, intertwined with the history, seemed to go over very well with the class,? she said.

She said Cure officers asked for clarification on the only specific reference to black people, which was ?the Diaspora?.

?It was defined as blacks outside of Africa and the students offered the explanation that the term referred to the ?locations of black people outside of Africa?, which effectively meant that any place in the world where black people reside can be considered part of the Diaspora,? she said.

Ms Virgil said she felt it to be a healthy basis for the programme, and one which is probably misunderstood by members of the community whom are concerned, but have not sought more information.

Towards the end of the class, she said students graciously responded to Cure?s questions on how they felt about learning African history, particularly given its association with black history, when some class members are not black.

?Both black and white students said that they felt the history of people of African descent important to learn, as some of them had never heard of the accomplishments of any peoples before or outside of Christopher Columbus,? she said.

She said their only previous association with Africa was a reference to slavery, which seemed not only erroneous but tragic.

Ms Virgil said the students went on to express excitement about learning about values steeped in African culture and stated that ?it?s not just about black history; it?s the keys for life in history?.

?Another student told us that she felt that it didn?t really matter whether the reference was to ?black history or white history or African history? because she felt that we are all descended from Africa in some way,? she said.

Cure officials felt that the general consensus of the class was that learning history from this approach of valuing the self, working responsibly and with purpose, was fun.

Their comments were that the class should be available to all students, at all age levels, in all of the schools.

In order to review and speak to the content of the programme more extensively, Cure said it has asked to see a copy of the students? workbooks from the school.

?Without having access to the programme content as a whole, we are not in a position to promote its further applications, to critique or to offer a critical perspective on its potential,? she said.

Cure encouraged members of the community who have questions or concerns about the Ashay: Rites of Passage class, to also visit the school and engage Bermuda?s very bright and up-and-coming students in a dialogue.

?From what we saw, they are very willing and very prepared?, Ms Virgil concluded.