The Island's best and brightest students will be rewarded with a free university education, the Progressive Labour Party has promised.

Education Minister Randy Horton told party supporters at Alaska Hall yesterday that Government scholarships would be significantly redesigned to give some young people a "full ride" through college if the PLP wins the December 18 election.

He said scholarships would pay for living expenses as well as college tuition. "Our hardest working and highest performing students will be rewarded with a free college education from this government," he said. "They deserve nothing less."

Other promises made by the Minister included annual school reviews with published results, improved learning and school leadership, licensed teachers in every classroom and curriculum-based testing.

Mr. Horton said the Government was already in the process of massively overhauling the public school system to improve attainment.

He said another PLP term would see more professional development opportunities for staff and a scheme to publicly recognise teacher excellence.

"We will incorporate a comprehensive wellness programme to teach children a healthy lifestyle of physical activities and smart eating," said Mr. Horton. "We will comprehensively teach Bermuda history in our schools.

"We will introduce teacher, parent and student opinion surveys annually to encourage buy-in by all members of the team responsible for the learning process."

The PLP has also promised free Bermuda College tuition for Bermudian students, increased scholarships from $10,000 to $15,000 a year for mature students and trainee teachers and a public health scholarship.

Mr. Horton said the party would examine the "viability of reintroducing a technical-vocational school in our public education system" and create a Tourism Learning Centre to encourage young Bermudians to enter that sector.

"We are focused on academically preparing young Bermudians so they are ready to earn their rightful place in the booming economy we have created," he said.