As recommendations are implemented from the Hopkins Report that aims to improve Bermuda's education system, it can be interesting to look back upon previous years of transition and to understand how the system has developed over time. Recommendation Number Seven addresses accountability and continuance from primary through to Middle and Senior Schools and calls for cluster school boards to be formed. This effectively is an extension of the concept of aided schools, such as the way St. George's Preparatory, Whitney Institute Middle School, Sandys Secondary Middle School and The Berkeley Institute senior school are managed.

These schools are partially funded by government, although Consultant Executive Officer for the Ministry of Education, Dr. Henry Johnson says that some are "nearly 100 percent government funded," but they are managed differently. A Board of Trustees or Governors is responsible for managing to a Charter. In each case, the Trustees own and are responsible for some or all of the land, buildings and the upkeep of the school.

The main difference between "aided" and "maintained" public schools is in the autonomy of the executive team. Trustees in aided schools take an active role in the selection of the Principal and Deputy and they are involved with the curriculum, daily operations and policies, within the parameters of their Charter. The Ministry of Education however, has final responsibility for ensuring consistency of standards.

Before the Schools Act of 1867 all schools were privately run and not governed by any central standards. The Act, according to The Royal Gazette at the time, was to "aid in the maintenance of Common Schools" and the Council of Education was established, with the Governor sitting as its President. The focus was to set common standards, ensure efficient use of resources and insist upon uniformity of text books for equal education.

Partial government funding was intended to enhance teachers' salaries and it was not to be used to reduce the tuition fees payable by parents. Under the act, teachers were responsible to the Board of Education. This was effectively the beginning of fully maintained schools.

One hundred and forty years later, there are currently 18 primary, five middle and two senior schools operated by government, all but four are fully maintained. By the end of the 2009 school year, there will be six governing bodies, each consisting of one of the five existing middle schools and geographically close primary "feeder" schools. The sixth cluster board will govern the two senior schools.

Dr. Johnson explains the intention of the Interim Board, overseeing the implementation of the Hopkins Report recommendations: "The intent is to make all schools similar in terms of governance and autonomy and the Board has said that it wants to use aided schools to help drive maintained schools in that direction." Legislation for "cluster boards" is due to be tabled in the next parliamentary session.

This is based on the concept of one Board of Governors being accountable for one middle school and its associated "feeder" primary schools, which Dr. Johnson says, "encourages consistency across both levels of education and improves accountability."

The evolution of aided schools, or those governed by Trustees or a Board reflects a history of social transformation. While in 1935 nine such schools existed, known as "vested schools" they were managed by trustees and partially funded through government grants, by 1945 there were five.

In 1970 government announced plans to amalgamate all primary schools, closing eight of the 25 primaries. This would include aided primaries, Whitney Institute Primary, Saltus Preparatory and Warwick Academy Primary, the overall purpose was to improve standards and to accelerate the rate of integration in the school system. Government Leader Sir Henry Tucker and Member for Education, Dr. Stanley Ratteray led the charge.

The Royal Gazette, January 30, 1971 quoted Sir Henry: "Amalgamation is a basic prerequisite for an integrated society of the future." The idea, which meant Whitney and Warwick Academy primaries would be phased out and Saltus would accept other students, was not well accepted by the aided schools. The same newspaper reported: "Stormy parent meetings at Saltus, Whitney and Warwick Academy have indicated solid disapproval for any compulsory amalgamation scheme." Reporter Mike Burrows wrote that those schools "could take a fiercely independent line by becoming private and opting completely out of the Government system. They would have to be totally self-supporting and would necessitate parents paying heavy fees."

In the same year, Saltus Trustees decided the school would become a completely independent, fee-paying school. Saltus Grammar's website reports that in 1972 Saltus Cavendish preparatory department was also incorporated into Saltus Grammar School, "thanks to the generosity of the Cavendish Trustees."

Sir Henry was reported to have said of the integration process: "The degree of integration in the majority of our primary schools is extremely disappointing. It is accordingly necessary — in our judgment — for positive steps to be taken to see that integration, in fact, does take place."

Changes proposed today, while not as dramatically changing to the society, are a part of a wider educational reform, which in conjunction with other Hopkins recommendations aim to improve the standard of education from the youngest age.