Bermuda's public schools have come in for their fair share of criticism in recent months, so it is important to note when schools do the right thing.

As reported in yesterday's Royal Gazette, Berkeley Institute deserves credit both for moving quickly to implement recommendations from the Hopkins report and for thinking outside the box by looking at introducing the International Baccalaureate programme.

Many readers will recall that the Hopkins Report contained a wide range of criticisms about the public schools and a wide range of solutions as well.

This newspaper backs many of the changes proposed, with the caveat that it is vital that all stakeholders are bought on board to make the changes work.

Berkeley's trustees and administrators have clearly accepted the need to change and it is to their credit that rather than waiting to be told what to do, they are moving ahead with it.

That will give also the whole Bermuda community a benchmark at the end of the school year to determine if the reforms are working.

Berkeley principal Michelle Simmons and her senior staff are doing the right thing by following the advice of the Hopkins Report and spending more time in the classrooms, working with teachers and students.

The front of a classroom can be a lonely place for teachers, especially those who are new to the profession, and for senior staff to be there to give assistance can only help.

Just as importantly, the school's decision to add more after-school tutorials, homework clubs and the like only makes sense.

One of the challenges the education system faces is the fact that an 8.15 a.m. to mid-afternoon school schedule was essentially designed for a different era when many mothers did not work and were home when the children returned. Today, it is almost certain that the parents are working until 5 p.m. or later and children are returning to an empty home or are running the streets.

So after-school programmes and clubs are essential, both to enrich students' experiences and to help them academically.

Berkeley's consideration of an IB programme at its old campus also shows it is ready to offer students more than the curriculum requires.

Bermuda high school graduates are not necessarily ready academically or emotionally to head off to college and the IB can act as a bridge between school and university.

It is a very rigorous programme which should help Bermuda to get the kind of job entrants the modern economy, which increasingly relies on brains and not brawn, needs.

To be sure, not everyone will be suited to it and it is also true that two private schools already offer the programme. In addition, it could well be in competition with the Bermuda College, which has offered university transfer courses for decades.

But there is surely no harm in giving Bermuda's students more choice, and if academic standards rise in the public schools , as they must, then this is an option well worth considering.