A note of thanks

November 15, 2008

Dear Sir,

I would like for you to put a thank you to the "Happy Valley Nursery School". On Thursday all the little ones came in a bus and brought all the 'Seniors' here useful things such as paper towels, fruit, tin and fresh eggs, etc. and all were dressed. It was beautiful. Thanking you in advance. God Bless You!

ALL OF THE SENIORS

More statues needed

November 8, 2008

Dear Sir,

I congratulate the government and the sculptor on the erection of Sally Bassett's statue. We should continue in the statue mode with statues of those like Sir Henry Tucker, Dame Lois Brown Evans, Sir Edward Richards and others. I know we have the Dr. Gordon Hall in the BIU Headquarters and the Dr. Gordon Square near the BIU.

ROSS TUZO

Warwick

A shocking admission

November 6, 2008

Dear Sir,

Chatting with teachers we were told Austria is following the rest of the EU and doing away with middle schools, while Ontario has none. The teachers in this middle section were not seeing the beginning (primary) and the end (secondary) in the children often resulting in little or no motivation for either student or teacher!

If some Bermuda students can't read or write, why throw them into a lions den by moving them to another level? Seems to us all the lies and millions of dollars spent on promises on how the Bermuda Government would make sure no student is left behind is a shocking admission of guilt. How embarrassing for the seven ministers in the last ten years and the leaders who put them there! The lesson learned during these discussions is to give our children a good educational future and not dead end promises.

TOPPY AND SAUNDRA COWEN

Southampton

Make every child a winner

November 11, 2008

Dear Sir,

When I think of education reform, three names come to mind. Junior high, intermediate high and middle school. Call it what you may. A rose by any other name is still a rose. All three represent a transition between elementary and senior high Schools. I remember when the Junior High School was introduced in St. Vincent during the early 70s. One principal was daring enough to take it up a notch and decided to prepare the senior students for GCE exams. Much to the demise of the "experts", Principal George Bailey's students had overwhelming success.

Other schools caught the fever and had success. These were all schools with limited resources, underpaid staff and over populated class rooms. There was no magic formula. What then were the formulae to the success of St. Vincent's primitive, Third World junior school system? The answer is three fold and simple. First and foremost: Dedication on the part of the ill equipped, underpaid Teachers. Next: Commitment, Determination and Desire to excel on the part of Students. Then last but by no means least, impoverished parents who supported the schools and saw to it that their children attended classes every day.

A week ago, I was accosted by a well dressed Bermudian. He shouted: "Who make you ah axpart on wat is good fu Bumudans?" I was stunned by my inability to understand what he was attempting to ask. Initially I thought, "Oh my! my cover is blown, now everyone knows that I am an expatriate." It was only after he informed me that I had an unwholesome relationship with my mom that I understood that the poor guy may well be a victim of the education system that is allegedly failing.

Sir, I am neither expert nor paid consultant. I am simply an expat who has a vested interest in a system that I know from experience has worked and most definitely can work in affluent Bermuda. A system that has produced doctors, brilliant Lawyers, school principals, locksmiths, Police Commissioners and other high ranking Police officers only to name a few, some of whom are making valuable contributions right here in Bermuda.

I challenge your readers to think of this. Fifty explorers set out on a mission to find the legendary "Fountain of Youth". Forty-nine failed to discover it. What would be the wiser investment of time and money? Talking to the ones that failed in order to find out why did they failed? Or gleaning ideas from the one that had success? Strive for excellence. Every child a winner. They are our Future.

JOSHUA RICHARDSON

Pembroke

No input from the people

October 29, 2008

Dear Sir,

I note from today's article that the Minister of Education is proceeding with the renaming of the St. David's Primary School. That calls into question the purpose of the public meeting in St. David's, which the Minister called to "gather feedback" for his colleagues before their final decision. I found it most interesting that the Minister admitted that in spite of the meeting, the Cabinet decided to go ahead with the name change. So why have the meeting in the first place? The many opponents of the name change made rational, logical presentations.

The meeting was also told by Mr. Llewellyn Simmons about the successful stand in Sandys against the proposal to change the name of that school. In St. David's, however, our fight was in vain. It would appear the Minister attended the meeting with the sole intention of presenting the Government's position and to appear to listen to our concerns. It is now clear that despite the community's feelings, the government had no intention at all of rethinking the proposal in spite of what the community felt. Even members of the Richardson family stated their opposition to the proposal. The Government has trampled on the wishes of the community. So much for soliciting the input of the people! Given the Minister's later statement, the public meeting can be best described as a farce and the Minister's actions as empty of meaning. Good people of St. David's, they've done it to us again!

SEAN M. PITCHER

St. David's

There's always a bad apple

November 7, 2008

Dear Sir,

The obvious decline in values and attitude in this country seems to have crossed all sectors. I for one thought if one had the privilege of operating a public passenger transport one would, at least during duty display a certain level of professionalism and courtesy. While the majority of operators are dedicated and approach their duty in a professional and courteous manner there's always the proverbial bad apple.

Case in point: While heading west on Saturday, November 1 at approximately 2.53 p.m., a PTB bus came barrelling in the opposite direction. I had just passed a disabled vehicle in the lane heading east (same as the bus) I indicated to the lady operating the bus to slow her speed by extending my arm outwards and flagging upwards/downwards. To my great surprise her response was to give me the universal one finger salute. Had this lady been in a private vehicle it would have been a different set of circumstances, however in my mind she is duty bound to be courteous to members of the public, or so I thought. Here we go Mr. Editor how can we ask the young people to be responsible individuals when, we as adults exhibit the same childish behaviour or even worse.

WINSTON JONES

Devonshire

What Bermuda needs

November 6, 2008

Dear Sir,

What a wonderful night this past Tuesday – the people of the United States chose Barack Obama as the 44th President! I am sure I'm not alone in having been 100 percent for Mr. Obama because of his great intellect, his refreshing political approach, and his grace – and at the same time, feeling a little nervous about what the implications of his Presidency and policies with regard to international companies may be for our small and very dependent Island.

I am also sure that I was not the only Bermudian watching who couldn't help comparing that election and the speech Mr. Obama made afterwards, to our own most recent election and the speeches made by our leader, Premier Ewart Brown. What a chasm separates these two men. Barack Obama – a statesman, a person who unites all people regardless of race, religion, and even reaches across the party divides. Ewart Brown – first, a divider. Picture the raised fist and the awful divisive racial rhetoric of his speeches leading up to and after the election. Certainly not a statesman, more a dictator-like leader who rules his country and his own fellow politicians from a base of fear (of losing their Ministers salaries, cars etc.) and loathing (of the white supremacists). And a man who "uses people and then kicks them to the kerb"…. I could go on and on, but I become too upset when I do. I just wish we could invite Mr. Obama to Bermuda to give our Premier and his fellow party leaders a few lessons in grace, statesmanship, respect; and to inspire them to follow his lead and trust themselves, the people of their country, and reach across borders, boundaries, dividing lines in a spirit of unity and common purpose – the future well-being of our country and our children.

We need such leadership to emerge. Soon.

D. MARTIN

Warwick

No seismic shift

October 31, 2008

Dear Sir,

Will the ideological and institutional structures that shape American domestic and foreign policy be radically transformed by the ascension of a sable-skinned saviour to the US 'throne'? Will America's countless human rights atrocities and long-running practice of exporting terrorism (military and economic) come to a sudden and unceremonious halt? Will America finally take a page out of South Africa's handbook and have a truth commission whose sole aim is to publicly chronicle the litany of unspeakable acts of cruelty that resides beneath the polished veneer of the official record of events? No, to all of the aforementioned.

It is abundantly clear that many – too many – among us have chosen to ignore the lessons of history and have instead become fatally enamoured of the charismatic brother with the pretty name. Yes, he is handsome and personable; yes, he is charismatic and brilliant; and yes, he will most likely become the first black president in the history of the United States. However, this should not – by any stretch of the imagination – be interpreted as an indication that a seismic shift (of paradigm and ideology) is taking place.

America (like Bermuda) has a long history of appointing black faces to perform the regular functions necessary to maintain the status quo. Thus, here on the rock, we saw E.T. Richards – an erudite and captivating black man, just like brother Barack – engaged in the business of heading up and acting as the mouthpiece for the commercial interests of the white oligarchy. To put it bluntly, it was still business as usual – the deplorable material conditions and soul-destroying inequality that were firmly entrenched before Richards assumed the Premiership were still very much in place for the masses of black Bermudians afterward.

Not surprisingly, significant social change came to these Devil's Isles – as it always does anywhere in the world – through the combined courage, commitment, vision and efforts of those languishing at the bottom of the social hierarchy. No messiah, endorsed by the establishment, saved black people; the change, when it came, was largely initiated by collective action that originated in the bowels of society. Examples of such grassroots radicalism are writ large on the yellowed papyrus of world history, wherever unjust authority collides with the implacable will of the people.

I suspect that real change in America will only occur when its dispossessed and vulnerable citizens recognise that power resides in their hands alone and that it is through coalition-building, sacrifice and dedicated struggle that a new America, forever transformed, can finally emerge.

COLWYN BURCHALL

Devonshire

We're all taxpayers

November 6, 2008

Dear Sir,

In today's Royal Gazette, you mentioned a woman at a recent PLP meeting who explained her opposition to free public transport for all by saying: "That means the taxpayers are going to have to pay and the foreigners are getting off scot free." According to your report, her comments were met with murmurs of approval from the audience.

If this lady was referring to foreign tourists then she has a valid argument, albeit one I disagree with. In my view, anything we can do to encourage our visitors to use public transport instead of braving our roads on rental cycles is for the good (assuming the service frequency is upped to meet the demand, where necessary).

If, however, this lady was referring to foreign residents of Bermuda then she is wrong (and I trust the Premier told her so). Foreigners who live in Bermuda pay the same taxes as Bermudians and so should be entitled to the same government services. On a related note, I'm surprised that the Premier is now saying the Government will "probably survey the public" before making a final decision on whether to extend free public transport to all next month. Perhaps this should have been done before making the promise in the PLP's election manifesto, lest the Premier finds himself either breaking that promise or doing something that most people don't want.

PHILLIP WELLS

St. George's

Put words into action PLP

October 31, 2008

Dear Sir,

First and foremost my heart goes out to the victims of bullying in both our public and private schools.

FACT: The larger a school population the harder it is to control bullying. In the PLP's wisdom back in the day, we marched against the building of Cedar Bridge claiming mega schools no matter how state of the art they were, would not cure the poor graduation rate in public schools. I still have a copy of the Amalgamated Bermuda Union of Teachers newsletter dated February/March 1991 where the headlines in the interview with my friend Jennifer Smith states "Three Senior Schools" … says Shadow Minister. OK, so moving forward a decade and a bit more when the PLP finally becomes Government, they totally ignore their own advice and build an additional mega school.

FACT: On top of this we have lowered the standard of passing requirements and pretend that the graduation rate has actually increased. I know this for a fact because I worked at the Bermuda College and there was an alarming amount of young freshmen that could not take the college level courses until they completed basic math and English courses that were really designed for high school. The following is another quote from that same interview with Jennifer where she states (and very accurately) "No plan for educational reform can succeed without the support of those for whom it is designed; that is to say: students, teachers, parents and community."

So why for goodness sake can't the PLP put words in action? You all are ticking me right off.

RECOMMENDATIONS

Create a third high school to reduce the current populations in CedarBridge and Berkeley. Split Berkeley in half and use it as a technical training school (example website bdaths.com). Get rid of the middle school concept, it is disastrous! In private school the kids stay in the same environment from K to Graduating. In public schools the students go from Kindergarten to Preschool to Primary to Middle to Senior. Insane!

Create a small, loving specialised school for kids at risk that are disruptive. I asked this formally to the much respected Paula Cox way back at a National PTA conference. Too few disruptive students were removed at the time. Any student that is violent should be prosecuted and taken out of the system. Not suspended! Most chronically disruptive children need smaller environments but there is a minuscule portion that is violent requires psychiatric help and should not be allowed in the mainstream.

We do not have a young black male problem. We have a young generation that is at risk because they are exposed to too much at too young an age regardless of colour. So stop pointing the finger at these young boys and giving them complexes. Thank you to the PLP for finally making the committee looking into the education reform available for the public to listen on. Thank you, Royal Gazette for perusing the issue of making the Government transparent. I am at the stage in my life where I don't give two hoots that the UBP messed things up for 30 years and it is now pay back time. It is our young people that are at stake, it is our future at stake and you have no damn excuse because PLP you have been in power long enough to fix it.

CHERYL POOLEY

Parent of child in public school

Smith's