Responding to complaints that students are not learning enough about Bermuda history and geography, Education Minister yesterday announced that a teachers? guide to complement a Bermuda history textbook released last year is nearly finished.

He said Rosemary Jones, the author of ?Bermuda: Five Centuries?, is working with teachers to implement the textbook in classes. The Teachers Resource Book Mrs. Jones is working on is expected to be a guide for teachers.

?We are very proud of the fact that this curriculum was written locally and that it provides the vehicle by which our students learn not only Bermuda?s history and culture , but also the history and culture of different parts of the world,? Mr. Lister said.

He also announced that the Social Studies Education Officer, Leona Scott, and Science Education Officer Joan Blades are currently working on a Bermuda Atlas with Bermudian Graham Faiella.

The Atlas will include information on the political process in Bermuda, the Island?s geology and geography as well as climate information. There will also be facts about the soil and vegetation on the Island, agriculture and fishers and population demographics.

Mr. Lister said it was important to highlight Bermuda in the Social Studies curriculum but that students must also learn more about the world around them.

?Therefore we are considering the extent to which it would be possible to introduce at senior school a course on Bermuda laws and international laws that effect Bermuda,? Mr. Lister said. ?Our students must graduate with more than a superficial knowledge of local laws such as traffic laws, drug laws, the court system, employment act, human rights and positive ways to bring about change. They also need to have some understanding of the main international laws by which we must abide if Bermuda is to be seen as a legitimate financial and political entity.?

Mr. Lister said he was making the Ministerial Statement to dispel misconceptions that students were not learning about Bermuda?s history and geography at schools across the Island.