Government schools open for the new school year today, meaning that Bermuda's young people are embarking on a new quest for knowledge and education.

That the stakes are high for this generation of students is inarguable. It is likely that when they graduate and enter the workforce, they will face more challenges than their predecessors. The days when a newly minted high school or university graduate could walk into a job with relative ease may well be over.

Instead, the demand for more and better skills – and the willingness to be flexible – will be higher, and that in turn places more pressure on schools and colleges to produce young adults who are prepared for a new world of work.

To that end, the Ministry of Education's decision to introduce the Cambridge curriculum leading to the IGCSE is a step in the right direction. Ensuring that Bermuda students have taken part in an internationally recognised and rigorous curriculum is a vital first step. The second step, improving the quality of teaching, is also underway with the advent of teacher licensing. It will take time to determine how effective this will be.

And while exams and tests are not the only indicator of school performance, if results do not improve, it will strongly suggest that teaching quality isn't either. This is also where transparency is critical. Releasing results in a timely manner and in an understandable format gives policymakers and the public the opportunity to see whether the education system is working.

It should also raise confidence in the system generally. This newspaper supports the idea of publishing school by school results and giving parents some choice in where they send their children. This will remove the anecdotal approach that currently exists, both between different public schools and between public and private schools.

At the moment, three private schools do release their GCSE results and this helps parents to make choices about their children's schooling, although it should by no means be the only indicator. And it is worth noting that none of the private schools are perfect either.

However, if one school is lagging behind others, then parents will tend to vote with their feet, and a sensible board of trustees will make adjustments accordingly. In theory, the result should be ever improving schools. The same theory should apply to Government schools if they publicise their results.

It is an ongoing disappointment that more has not been done with one of the major recommendations in the Hopkins report; giving schools and principals more autonomy. While schools are now being grouped in "families", this is not necessarily the same as giving them genuine autonomy. In particular giving principals more control over hiring and firing staff, and then holding them accountable for the school's performance would help improve schools enormously.

Finally, and most importantly, schools and teachers cannot do it on their own. If parents fail to support their children and fail to encourage them to succeed, their children will most likely fail. Making sure they get adequate rest and nutrition, helping with homework, encouraging them to take part in extra-curricular activities just taking the time to listen to them and teaching them good values are all critically important. With that said, there are signs that the education system is finally going in the right direction. But only consistent effort will keep it going that way.