Students transferred to alternative facilities for children with behavioural problems this term may have to travel overseas in order to take their final graduation exam.

Julia Beach, director of the Adult Education School (AES), said she feared the transferring 60 additional children out of the two public senior schools and into alternative facilities had not been thought through properly.

She spoke out after parents were told last week that their children would be transferred from either CedarBridge Academy or Berkeley Institute due to behavioural problems, and instead sent to The Educational Centre (TEC) or CARE Learning Centre, where they would study the General Equivalency Diploma (GED) programme.

But Mrs. Beach said the Ministry of Education knew that students could no longer sit the GED exam on the Island, and instead had to travel to the US in order to graduate.

And she said even that was becoming more and more difficult to do.

"I was very surprised when I heard these children were being offered the GED because there is nowhere in Bermuda for them to take the exam," said Mrs. Beach.

"Do the parents know that their children are going to have to go abroad to take it, and who will pay for it?

"I don't think the alternative programme they are offering has been thought through properly. It seems a bit short-sighted.

"I don't know how they see an end result with a graduation. You have to have some measure of success for the students."

Mrs. Beach said the adult school had offered the GED, the equivalent of a US high school diploma, since1980.

However, she said since 1995, the American Council on Education had put an end to all of its international testing, which meant students could no longer sit the exam in Bermuda.

For a couple of years, the council allowed Sylvan Prometric to conduct the tests via computer, but that contract came to an end a few years ago, and since then her students had been forced to travel to at first New Jersey and then Atlanta in order to gain the qualification.

Mrs. Beach said each year, students from the AES travelled to Atlanta to take their exam, but admitted that even her situation was "precarious".

"We used to send our students to New Jersey to take the exam, but we can't even do that any more," she added."

"They have stopped taking overseas students. However, we have managed to establish a contact in Atlanta and they said our students could go there for the exam.

"They said they would just take a few of our students and nobody else's. But if this one centre says no more testing for us, what do we do.

"Our position is very precarious, and we have been trying to get the examining council to come back to Bermuda.

"The Minister knows how precarious this situation is. I don't know why they have opted for this programme for the alternative facilities."

Last night, Minister of Education Paula Cox said she hoped that Bermuda could once again become a testing centre for GED, but she said nothing was certain yet.

She said much depended on the number of students sitting the exam because a minimum would be required in order for the examining council to grant permission.

She said she had been working on bringing the tests back to the Island for some months.

However, she said that even if Bermuda did not become a testing centre, the GED was so well recognised and thought of, both in Bermuda and overseas, that it was the best option for the alternative facilities.

She said: "It's a very real possibility that we will be able to have a testing site here. We have been pursuing this matter for some time.

"However, in any event, parents have been asking, and have been told, that there is a testing site in Atlanta which provides the facilities in terms of children doing the GED, assuming that they are academically ready."

But Ms Cox said while there were a few options regarding other programmes, the Ministry was eager to ensure that children attending the alternative facilities would be given a second chance to achieve an internationally recognised standard.

"We want to make sure they leave with some useful qualification," added the Minister.

"There is not another programme (of this reputation) that I am aware of at this stage. The GED has some currency and some value."

However, the Minister said if Bermuda was unable to bring a testing centre to the Island, and children had to go overseas to graduate, she could not guarantee that the Ministry would pick up the tab for the cost of the exam and airfare.

"Our resources are not infinite," she said. "That is something to consider, but I think parents are being apprised of the options. Where we can assist, we certainly will."

Director of CARE Neletha Butterfield said she believed the Ministry had made the best decision in choosing the GED as the alternative programme.

She said: "It's an excellent option. I have had a number of students who have done very well. The GED can get students right into university or college without having to go through entrance exams.

"We are working on getting a testing centre in Bermuda, which would be the best option, but, even if we can't do that, the GED is worth going overseas for. Plus, the travelling is great experience."

The Ministry said a total of 40 students will attend the expanded TEC at Devon Lane School in Roberts Avenue, Pembroke, while up to 30 students will be transferred to CARE.

The Royal Gazette understands that as of yesterday, the only students present at TEC were the ten who attended last year.

Those children recently transferred there and their parents are meeting with the headteacher Declan Harris this week in preparation to begin next week.