Education Authority Bill tabled in Parliament
The long-awaited Education Authority Bill, which seeks to provide stronger governance and clearer accountability in the public school system, has been laid in Parliament.
Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, said that the Education Authority must be “built to survive” political change as the Bill created the governance framework for public education.
Mr Rabain delivered a ministerial statement about the Bill ahead of its tabling.
He said of the authority: “It must survive changes in ministers. It must survive changes in governments. It must survive the ordinary rhythms of political life.
“The answer is durability.
“An education authority provides a governance structure whose remit is education — and only education — insulated from the pressures of short political timescales, with a single, accountable point of professional leadership at the top of the public school system.
“Our children’s education cannot be started and stopped every four or five years.
“That is what this legislation is about — creating that stability and safeguarding it for the generations to come.”
The 2025 Throne Speech committed to bringing the Bill to the legislature in this legislative session.
In July, Mr Rabain updated the House on its purpose, progress and principles.
He told MPs today: “Establishing an education authority is among the most significant governance reforms contemplated for our public education system in a generation.
“The Bill I will table will bring focus, accountability and dedicated governance to a system that has for too long been asked to reform itself while simultaneously running itself.
“This Bill builds on that shared analysis and on the reform work already under way and it does what earlier efforts could not. It places the governance framework for public education into statute where it can endure beyond any single administration.”
The minister said that every child deserved to learn in a system that was well governed, professionally led and focused on their outcomes in literacy, numeracy, wellbeing and “in the life chances they carry with them into adulthood”.
Mr Rabain insisted that the authority was not just “a rebranding exercise”.
He explained: “It is not moving names on an organisational chart.
“It is a carefully designed structural reform, delivered in defined stages, to address longstanding challenges in the governance and accountability of our public education system.”
The Bill provides for the establishment of the authority in legislated stages with appropriate legal safeguards along the way.
Mr Rabain said the authority was the vehicle to deliver the broader reform agenda, including signature schools and parish primary schools, improved professional development, multiple pathways to success and inclusive education.
The minister committed to giving the OBA a briefing before the Bill was presented.
Ben Smith, the shadow education minister, asked whether the authority should have been put in place before the implementation of education reforms.
Mr Rabain began his response saying “hindsight being 20/20”, but went on to say it was not the case.
“If we could have put this in place prior, we probably would have, but this was always part of education reform.
“The simple answer is no, we are where we find ourselves today and we are moving forward with the information we find ourselves with today.
“The Education Authority will come into effect, it will eventually take over the education reform process but the reform will continue until that day it is ready to take it over.”
Mr Smith said one of the reasons for the formation of the authority was to remove political influence from public education. He asked if it would be able to make changes to reforms already in place.
Mr Rabain responded: “Reform continues and, disappointingly to most, when it comes to education, it is consistently reforming itself, it has to change to address the factors of that day. When it comes into effect, of course, they will look at what is happening and will make the necessary adjustments.”
Robert King, independent MP, raised the issue of the Cambridge Checkpoint and IGCSE results.
He asked: “What measurable improvements in student achievement does the minister expect the Education Authority to deliver over the next five years and how will those outcomes be publicly reported and measured?”
Mr Rabain said he would go public with the results received this year “once they are socialised within”.
“I have spoken very publicly of what is being put in place to ensure that those results will be utilised and how they will be used to measure improvement of our students as we move forward,” Mr Rabain said.
He said the Bill was the result of two decades of work, starting with the Hopkins Report of 2007 that “laid bare the systemic challenges facing our public school system”.
Mr Rabain outlined successive reviews, plans and independent reports that followed in the years after as well as the “pivotal role” of Bermuda Learning First in recommending an education authority.
“That recommendation, from a body representing a broad cross section of our community, aligned directly with the evidence that had been accumulating for over a decade,” Mr Rabain said.
The Education Authority Working Group, formed in 2021, was then convened to translate policy commitment into operation.
Mr Rabain said: “They wrestled with legislation, governance structures, funding models, accountability mechanisms and transition planning.”
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