The state of the Island’s education system and the effects of the newly created Ministry of Social Rehabilitation were just some of the crucial matters discussed in the Senate chambers on Wednesday. The Opposition’s motion highlighting “the deplorable state of education in Bermuda’s public school system” drew round-table disquiet when it was tabled on Wednesday.

Government Senator Kim Wilson said there have been so many negative comments made about the public education system lately, some might not be aware of the good going on.

“As you are aware Mr. President, both senior schools recently announced their graduation rates, only to have the numbers played out in the media, garnering unnecessary public scrutiny,” Sen. Wilson charged.

She also announced that the Spice Valley Middle School (formerly Warwick Secondary) will be officially renamed the T.N. Tatem Middle School on September 1 and the public is invited to join the ceremony. The change is in honour of well-known Bermuda educator, the late Thomas Neville Tatem, MBE, who was known for his high teaching standards, character and discipline, which some say Bermuda must return to.

Sen. Wilson stated: “A mathematics teacher, many ‘Berkeleyites’ owe Mr. Tatem a tremendous debt of gratitude, as his inspired teaching and passion for his subject, impacted upon many career choices. His name is always associated with strict discipline and he expected nothing short of the best from his students and would openly display his disappointment when students misbehaved or otherwise.”

Mr. Tatem served at the Berkeley Institute for almost 35 years before becoming the founding principal of Warwick Secondary School in the late 1960s.

“And, on June 30, 2007, another great contributor to the Island,” added Sen. Wilson, “particularly in the West End Community, was honoured. The Royal Naval Field located on Main Road, Somerset, was renamed the Warren Simmons Community Field after well-known Somerset cricketer and proprietor, Warrington Howard Lloyd Simmons, JP, MBE.”

At the same time, Government Senator Davida Morris, Junior Minister for Social Rehabilitation, highlighted initiatives being tackled by the Ministry, including family issues, financial assistance, drug control and Court Services.

Sen. Morris said: “There’s been major initiative in the Ministry, under the leadership of Minister Dale Butler, who has operated with vigour, enthusiasm and has accomplished a great deal in the last eight months. The Ministry was instrumental in moving the Adoption of Children Act 2006 through the Legislature and it was given assent on December 29, 2006.”

Passionately reflecting on her own struggles with education, Opposition Senator Gina Spence-Farmer said: “I unlike others, did not graduate from high school.

“I grew up in a household where there was the issue of alcohol, but I believe also that certain things cannot be taught in a classroom.”

Speaking on the alleged disparities between the private and public school sectors, she said: “People whose cannot afford to send their children to private schools deserve the same opportunity as those in the private sector. We pay more to incarcerate our children than to educate them. We lose opportunities, like men and women sitting up at the prison and at the Mid-Atlantic Wellness Institute.”

Her colleagues Senator E.T. (Bob) Richards and Opposition Senate Leader Kim Swan agreed that the state of education in Bermuda is something that the community as a whole must examine and it cannot be done by one person alone.

During the motion to adjourn, Senate President Alf Oughton commented the education debate was one of the best he’d ever heard in the Chamber before adjourning the lower house until November 2.