The Minister of Education will maintain some controls over appointments to the proposed Education Authority, despite new legislation stating that the entity would be autonomous.

The minister will also retain the power to make regulations, according to the Bill, which was tabled in the House of Assembly by Diallo Rabain, the education minister, on Friday.

Shadow minister Ben Smith, the Leader of the Opposition, said he was unclear about how much independence the authority would have. Mr Rabain has said in the past that the Government would still operate “at arm’s length” since it provided funding to the body.

Download PDF File

EA ACT.pdf

The Act also states that if the board of the authority propose to carry out functions under the Act that are usually carried out by the Commissioner of Education — at present Radell Tankard in an acting capacity — the board must consult with the commissioner.

Mr Smith told The Royal Gazette: “There are areas that I want to understand better before reaching a final position.

“One of the main objectives of creating an education authority is to protect education from political interference, so we need to look carefully at the balance between the independence of the authority and the powers that remain with the minister.”

The minister said on Friday that he was committed to giving the One Bermuda Alliance a briefing on the legislation before it was presented in Parliament.

The legislation also creates an offence related to breaches of confidentiality, whereby a member of the authority can be fined up to $25,000 for disclosing information “except insofar as may be necessary for the due performance of a person’s duties under this Act”.

The board of the authority, the Act says, is being established to “make recommendations to the minister responsible for education on the reform of public education in Bermuda including the transitioning of public education from the Department of Education to the authority, such body to be governed by a board under the general direction of the minister”.

The Act states that “the minister shall upon the recommendation of the board, appoint persons to the board” and that the minister can appoint its first chief executive and first board chair of the authority.

Those disqualified from joining the board include those employed by an aided or maintained school, those who sit on the board of governors for such schools, and senators and members of the House of Assembly.

The minister can also, after consulting with the board, “make regulations for the better carrying out of this Act”.

These are subject to the negative resolution procedure whereby the minister, with the concurrence of his Cabinet colleagues, can make the instrument without consulting Parliament.

Under the law, there will be more collaboration with aided schools, but it is stated that they will maintain their autonomy.

The Act says: “The board, having due regard to the independence of aided schools, shall engage with each aided school boards of governors to understand their operational model, identify their strengths and identify possible areas of enhanced collaboration with the authority.”

It said that the board, in collaboration with aided schools, shall develop a framework for the integration of aided schools into the wider public school system, including “shared services, standards, data sharing and system-wide accountability while preserving the governance independence of the school”.

There will be a transition advisory committee set up, including the chairman and chief executive of the board, to advise the board on matters including the abolition of public offices in the Department of Education, cost estimates and risk assessments.

A section speaks to immunity from legal proceedings.

It said: “No action, suit, prosecution or other proceedings shall lie against any member of the board, member of a committee, officer or member of staff acting on behalf of the authority or on the direction of the board in respect of any act done, or any omission made, in good faith in the execution or intended execution of any function under this Act.”

Mr Smith said there were aspects of the Act he welcomed including the process for appointments, which will be advertised publicly, and reporting and accountability requirements.

He said he wished to understand whether there were safeguards in place for the appointment of school and zone boards.

“Otherwise, there is a risk of creating independence at the top while reintroducing political influence or additional bureaucracy further down the system. We are supposed to have a legislative briefing coming up and I want to use that opportunity to get answers to those questions before taking a final position on the Bill,” Mr Smith added.

The Gazette has requested further information from the Government about the Act and the level of autonomy it affords as well as how the confidentiality clause works in relation to Section 29A of the Employment Act 2000, which provides protections for whistleblowers.

The Gazette also asked when the Government believes the authority will be fully operational.