Believe in public schools

April 2, 2003

Dear Sir,

I write in response to the Letter to the Editor, published March 26, 2003, from V.L. Young of Southampton.

I would like to thank the writer for noticing that the Ministry of Education and Development has indeed made an effort over the past several months to take its message to the public. All too often in the past, the Ministry has been accused of operating within an ivory tower, and not being concerned with the point of view of its clients - the students and their parents. I must emphasised that the Ministry wishes to have the commitment of all stakeholders - students, parents, teachers, principals and the general public in ensuring the quality of our education system.

While I will not comment further on that "ivory tower" perception, I do wish to say that the Ministry has accepted the fact that many of the positive development in public education were being overshadowed by negative reports. At times, one might have been convinced that there was no good in public education at all. Reasonable persons would realise that this is not true as the majority of our students are positive and dedicated to learning, the majority of our parents are committed to following the academic progress of their children and the majority of our educators, be they principals, pre-school administrators or teachers, are committed to ensuring that children succeed. This combination makes for a system of success.

As occurs in many systems, the Ministry last year understood to review its operations and, as a result, formulated a strategic plan called BEST (Bermuda Education Strategic Team). The BEST Team is in the process of unrolling for the public how it intends to improve the system, paying recognition to the fact that critical to any improvement is the need to partner with those who have a vested interest in public education - that is, everyone in the community has a part to play if we are to improve education in general and public education in particular in this country.

The BEST Team made a number of very positive decisions. Four specific objectives focusing on improving student achievement were development. We decided to focus in on improving specific areas, rather than to try to do all things at once. The BEST Team also developed strategies which would assist in the attainment of objectives; the strategies are built around improving the marketing of the system, improving classroom instruction, facilitating high levels of student achievement, including focusing on giftedness, engendering a sense of system unity, establishing partnerships and raising levels of accountability for every individual involved in public education in Bermuda.

To answer a specific question raised by your writer - no, this is not traditional education as it once might have been known, although the basic premises are the same: students must learn to read, to write, to count and to be independent thinkers. The advent of technology has forced a change in some of the ways in which we teach; students who live in the here and now of the internet and cyberspace are not always easily motivated to apply themselves to the chalk and talk method of teaching. The tools of the teacher have changed over time from computer, from blackboard to whiteboard and from lecturing to actively engaging students in the lesson. To accomplish this and to keep up with the changes, our teachers must be involved in ongoing and meaningful training; the Ministry has made and will keep its commitment to ongoing training for all.

We invite anyone who is interested in being a part of a BEST action team, including your writer, to contact us at 239-3626 for information on signing up to work on a particular strategy. Persons can also call that same number to arrange a group presentation on the BEST.

In closing, please allow me the opportunity to share with the community our BEST Mission: The mission of the Bermuda Public School System is to be the first choice in education by providing rigorous and stimulating learning experiences in safe, responsive environments from which our students emerge confident and prepared to contribute locally and globally.

The Ministry of Education and Development makes no apologies for being more high profile than it has been in the past. Indeed, look for more publicity to come. For the record, we know that with being high profile comes the potential for higher levels of public scrutiny. With higher levels of scrutiny comes a higher need for accountability. As a system, we are preparing for that. It is our resolve that what was once the best - kept secret in Bermuda - that the Bermuda Public Education System is an excellent system - should now be made public.

DR. J. T. CHRISTOPHER

Chief Education Officer

Ministry of Education

Thanks for the help

April 4, 2003

Dear Sir,

I wish to express my sincere gratitude for the help I received when my car got a flat tyre on North Shore Road, Devonshire last night. I was fortunate to have stopped outside the house of a gentleman called Raymond, who immediately came to my aide, retrieved my spare and took it in his car to a service station to pump air into it. In the meantime, yet another kindly gentleman cyclist came by, jacked up the car, took the old tyre off and left it ready for Raymond to fit the new one. During all of this, numerous people stopped to ask if I needed help. I was back on my way within 25 minutes.

My faith in human kindness has been reinforced and I wanted to let the people who helped me know how grateful I am for their assistance.

KAY GALASSO

Smith's Parish