The Bermuda Union of Teachers has criticised the lack of progress in education reform and called on education minister Crystal Caesar to set out a clear plan for what comes next.

In a statement shared exclusively with The Royal Gazette, Dante Cooper, the general secretary of the BUT, said that “progress that took nearly eight years and tens of millions of public dollars to compile” had ended with educators being told the plan was on hold because the Government was “still gathering data”.

Mr Cooper said the question confronting parents amounted to “What exactly is the plan?”

In his statement in today’s edition, Mr Cooper said: “Publish the plan — not another statement but a full document identifying what remains, what has been paused, what has been abandoned, who owns each decision and when consultation will occur.

“Publish the data — graduation rates, enrolment trends, certification outcomes, transition data and performance baselines.

“Use the consultation structures that already exist — the collaborators who have been trusted with the work up until now.

“Teachers and parents are not obstacles to reform; they are the people expected to carry it, and until recently were highly engaged partners in the process.

“And, finally, make the financial side of this public-school reform transparent. Why did we pay more than $8.4 million to overseas consultants? What was delivered? What intellectual property belongs to Bermuda? What local capability was successfully transferred and how is that local, on-the-ground talent specifically charting the course of education reform now?

“The public deserve an end-of-engagement report at minimum.”

Mr Cooper said reform was not an accidental policy but rather “a Progressive Labour Party commitment repeated across three General Election campaigns” since 2017.

The system was to change from a three-tier to two-tier system with the phasing out of middle schools. Primary schools were to close, those spared closure were to be transformed to parish primaries that would teach from Primary 1 to Year 8, while signature schools would cover Year 9 to Year 13.

Education reform was launched by Diallo Rabain, the former education minister, with the promise of continuity and stability.

Mr Cooper highlighted that Mr Rabain had been in office for one of the longest continuous tenures and overseen signature learning programmes launched at CedarBridge Academy and The Berkeley Institute.

Francis Patton and Purvis primary schools switched to parish primaries followed by Harrington Sound and Elliot primary schools. Sandys was also changed to the island’s third signature school.

Overseas consultancy firm Innovation Unit, later named Third Story, was paid $8.4 million to help lead the transformation as part of an ongoing contract that ended in December.

Mr Cooper went on to describe how the plan changed under Ms Caesar.

“Parents made decisions around that road map. Teachers trained for it. School leaders reorganised staffing for it. HR departments hired around it,” he said.

He recalled how principals were called to a meeting with less than 24 hours’ notice and claimed a resulting proposal that was “cosigned” reflected only a subset of views.

Mr Cooper said: “The proposal effectively restored a version of the three-tier system under different terminology; parish primary schools reverting to P1 to P6, with lower secondary campuses taking Years 7 to 9.”

In January, parents of Year 6 and 7 students were told they could either keep children in parish primary schools or move them into middle schools from September 2026.

Mr Cooper said Ms Caesar had stated parents were choosing middle schools over parish primary schools for Years 7 and 8 but added “the complete island-wide Year 9 pathway across all three senior schools was not fully operational”.

“Any responsible parent would choose certainty over ambiguity,” Mr Cooper said.

He said the “reformed” two-tier system was never implemented and as such, teachers preparing lesson plans for next year did not know which initiatives remained active, which were paused and which had ended.

“Standards-based grading. Signature learning. Plan 2022. Workforce pathways. School transformation. Which of these remains Government policy? No one seems willing to say clearly,” Mr Cooper said.

“Meanwhile, schools already mid-transformation remain trapped between models.”

Mr Cooper said the public had repeatedly asked for baseline performance data, that graduation rates had not been consistently published and that questions remained around IGCSE outcomes, City & Guilds certification targets and longitudinal enrolment trends.

The Gazette reported in March that Bermuda’s public school exam results had fallen below international averages for the Cambridge International Education, Cambridge Checkpoint and International General Certificate of Secondary Education exams at all school levels.

Mr Cooper said the strategic framework for the education system remained undefined and still in development.

“The prevailing pattern is not reform. The prevailing pattern is inertia dressed up as deliberation,” he added.

“The public deserves better than ambiguity. And there are straightforward steps government can take immediately.”

The Ministry of Education was approached for comment.