For most of yesterday there was an empty seat at the first full session of the re-convened Senate.

Newly appointed UBP Senator Gina Spence-Farmer was fulfilling her job at the Bermuda College while her counterparts at the Senate discussed Government business and the Throne Speech.

It was only at 4.16 p.m yesterday, more than six hours after the Senate had convened, that the college employee arrived to take her seat.

Mrs. Spence-Farmer is currently awaiting the outcome of discussions between her employer and the Bermuda Public Services Union with the hope that the College will relent and allow her to take Wednesdays off to fulfil her role as a senator.

She has previously argued that the over-time hours she accumulates could be swapped for time off to serve on the Senate.

However, the college has stated it feels her job does not have the flexibility to accommodate such an arrangement.

The 43-year-old told it was now a matter being dealt with between the college and the union, but she was confident that the matter would be resolved soon.

She said: ?I can?t give a comment now until it is sorted out. I do want to honour the protocols here at the college and with the union.?

Earlier in the day, while discussing a plan to introduce a Government information television channel, Senate leader Larry Mussenden had said it might eventually result in Senate meetings being televised.

He looked across at the He looked across at the empty seat on the UBP side of the table and said: ?And the public will be able to see who is sitting in their senate chair and who is not.?

In her maiden speech, Sen. Spence-Farmer criticised Government?s education policy, citing statistics that show almost 50 per cent of public school students fail to graduate.

?Bermuda cannot afford to have one more student fail because when a student fails families fail,? she said.

?How can the Government talk of economic empowerment when students are failing basic English and maths,? she said. ?If you cannot fill out a basic form, life is a challenge.?

Sen. Spence-Farmer said Government?s policy matched the definition of insanity: doing the same thing year after year and expecting a better outcome.

She congratulated teachers on doing a fine job with limited resources and said Government?s failure to acknowledge that the system simply isn?t working was the biggest hurdle teachers face.

Citing her experience at the Bermuda College, she called for more financial support to be given to students who wished to pursue higher education but did not qualify for scholarships.

Many students at the College workd full time jobs while carrying a full course load. The problem was compounded when the students were single parents trying to obtain an education.

Sen. Spence-Farmer said new National Drug Control Minister Wayne Perinchief would need 100 percent support from the community if he was to succeed.

She commended the Government?s Alternatives to Incarceration programme but asked what its status was. And she said Government had cut funding from a number of organisations that would be needed to assist the new Ministry.

She ended her first address to the Senate by criticising the PLP for taking so long to formulate its social agenda.

?It?s a wonderful idea,? she said. ?It should have been the first agenda and only agenda, not an after thought or quick fix.?