Neither Crystal Caesar nor her predecessor Diallo Rabain had an easy run in charge of the Ministry of Education.

One commentator close to the Progressive Labour Party this week described it as “a poisoned chalice”.

Both ministers have endured union unrest, protests and disruptive U-turns, all while public education examination grades have fallen below international averages.

David Burt yesterday described his shock Cabinet reshuffle, just four months before his departure as Premier, as a “focused realignment of Cabinet responsibilities”, placing Mr Rabain back in charge.

Mr Burt said the work ahead starts with delivering the long-promised Education Authority legislation, school boards and operations decentralised from the Ministry of Education.

Mr Rabain was first sworn in as education minister on July 20, 2017. He admitted then that he had a huge task ahead of him, not least as Workforce Development had been merged into the ministry, a move that was reversed soon after.

Mr Rabain, who was at the time an adjunct lecturer at Bermuda College and had a daughter in the public education system, told us then: “In the short term we want to get inspectors into the schools and produce reports so we know what we need to do to get them up to code in terms of health and safety.

“Secondly, we will do audits in the schools and see what type of technology based systems that we need to get in there.”

The MP for Devonshire North Central and a former PTA president set about implementing science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics [Steam] learning from primary level.

It was in December 2020 that the plan to create a two-tier system by abolishing middle schools was announced as part of one of the biggest shake-ups in the history of Bermuda’s public education system.

By that time, decisions had already been made on nine schools to close, which was reduced to eight following a public consultation period.

The two primary schools in Devonshire were to be changed into the “exceptionalities signature school and the alternative education signature school”.

An Education Authority was also to be set up. The ministry said in the consultation document that Bermuda would benefit from the “improved delivery of education in 21st century learning facilities that support the curriculum, and new teaching and learning models”.

Each parish would have a single parish school under the plan, with the exception of Pembroke, which would have two.

That plan changed however following protests by West End Primary School which made the case for history and legacy to be considered within the criteria for closures.

The criteria had previously fallen predominantly on factors related to the adaptability of school buildings and premises for “21st century learning”.

West End eventually won its case and an exception was made.

An exception was also made for St David’s Primary School, which made a similar case, at the expense of Somerset Primary.

Foreign consultants Innovation Unit Australia/New Zealand had been contracted to help lead the charge for education reform, eventually racking up contracts worth $8.4 million.

The PLP administration came under pressure from the Bermuda Union of Teachers [BUT] as experienced educators were pulled from their classrooms to help with school transformation efforts, while a lack of substitute teachers was criticised. In 2025, the substitute Budget was increased by 26 per cent to address the shortfall.

The introduction of signature schools has seen some success, CedarBridge Academy as an example having recently embarked on a language immersion experience in Panama. Recruitment challenges stalled some of the subjects’ progress, however.

It was never made clear why Mr Rabain was removed from Education to become Minister of the Cabinet Office and Digital Innovation following the last General Election.

Ms Caesar, who has a financial background and lost the parliamentary seat she won in 2020 four years later, was sworn in February 2025 on the invitation of Mr Burt. She served as a senator from 2017 to 2020.

New to the Cabinet and handed one of the most challenging ministries in government, she set about her work.

That March, the ministry undertook a system-wide review to ensure the safety of students and teachers after a series of violent and antisocial incidents in schools.

Then the education ministry was budgeted $156.5 million for 2026-27 — a 5 per cent increase on the previous year.

Just over a year into her tenure, Ms Caesar made the shock announcement that education reform, which had been years in the making, would be put on hold.

The Ministry of Education insisted it remained committed to taking public schools to a two-tier system, but presentations at parents’ meetings revealed that the Government planned to maintain middle school year groups as “lower secondary schools”.

Parents and teachers expressed confusion and disbelief at PTA meetings after being told by school staff that primary schools would be reverting to being years P1 to P6 schools rather than extending up to P8 as planned, while middle schools would continue to teach years 7 to 9 [formerly M1 to M3], but would be renamed.

Ms Caesar insisted that the core reforms of scrapping middle schools and developing signature learning programmes were continuing.

“Engagement with internal stakeholders will continue as we progress towards a two-tier school system,” she said.

Last month, the BUT criticised the lack of progress in education reform and called on Ms Caesar to set out a clear plan.

Dante Cooper, the general secretary for the union, said: “Publish the data — graduation rates, enrolment trends, certification outcomes, transition data and performance baselines”.

The union said 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.

Ms Caesar was also embroiled in a controversial student disciplinary matter in which she intervened in favour of a student.

The move was met with apparent teacher sick outs resulting in the temporary closure of Port Royal Primary School. A petition was launched by “concerned parents” to have a teacher who had been placed on administrative leave in relation to the matter reinstated.

Ms Caesar was accused of overstepping her mark but she defended her position saying it was in line with the new Student Code of Conduct which placed an emphasis on restorative processes.

This week, Ms Caesar made the shock announcement she was to resign her position, taking a direct swipe at Cabinet colleagues and Mr Burt for a lack of support in making decisions. However, Mr Burt said he invited her to resign.

Mr Rabain, on being sworn back into the position, said the legislation for an Education Authority would be going before MPs this September, when two extraordinary sessions of the House are planned.

He also said: “The top three priorities are seeing what needs to be done to ensure schools are ready for September, reviewing current legislation drafted for the Education Authority … and seeing what can be done to education over the next year.”