The Education Ministry yesterday unveiled a raft of new measures to massively raise the standard of public schooling - along with new objectives for test scores.

Just days after the latest TerraNova test results showed senior school students were way behind their US peers in maths, language and reading, Education Minister Paula Cox said new strategies were in place to overhaul the system.

At a press conference attended by union representatives, principals and education officers, Ms Cox said the aim was to make the public education system the first choice for parents.

But she admitted that it would take an awful lot of work and effort on everyone's part, including parents.

However, she said the aims were that:

* The average TerraNova score for each year level be at or above the US average by June 2005.

* 75 percent of students at primary three and six in language and maths, and middle three in core subjects, will meet at least 80 percent of the curriculum objectives by June 2005.

* 75 percent of students in their graduating year will pass internationally-recognised exams in language and maths by June 2007, in addition to the current BSC exam.

* 75 percent of students entering P1 in September of next year and thereafter will meet with the graduation requirements of the BSC within four years.

The Minister said that although dates had been put in place to measure for definite improvement, steps were to be taken immediately to raise the bar, so she hoped results would come sooner.

Ms Cox said a number of strategies were to be put in place to ensure success in the public system, and they concerned classroom instruction, student achievement, high achievers, system unity, partnerships, accountability and marketing.

"We will implement a comprehensive staff development programme, in collaboration with all stakeholders, to improve classroom environment and instruction by focussing on raising standards, teaching and learning standards and enhancing instructional leadership skills," said Ms Cox.

"We will provide a wide range of programmes and opportunities for students at all levels to develop and have the critical skills and practises necessary to ensure continuous growth and development.

"We will identify and stimulate giftedness and talents in our students and develop/provide flexible programmes and community partnerships to challenge them to meet their needs and interests and ensure their optimum development."

Ms Cox said schools had to reach students, no matter what their ability, and said she was eager to see students benefit more from vocational and complementary courses, especially those pupils not academically-minded.

But the Minister said she also wanted to engender a sense of pride and cohesiveness in the public system, so everyone would take some ownership of it, from students and teachers to parents and businesses.

And she said the Ministry was eager to develop more relationships and partnerships with colleges and universities overseas, as well as businesses on the Island, and wanted everyone, from the bottom up, to be more accountable.

The new proposals for education are the result of about 30 people interested in public education coming together this past summer to develop a new strategic plan.

Included in the Bermuda Education Strategic Team (BEST) was a union representative, Ministry officers and a student from both CedarBridge Academy and Berkeley Institute.

The planning session was facilitated by Dr. Ron Miller, of Birmingham Public Schools in Detroit, and Bermudian trouble-shooter Arlene Brock.

The Minister said she had wanted to share the BEST plans with teachers first, before taking them to students and parents, but said that had proved difficult in recent weeks as the Bermuda Union of Teachers wished to first discuss outstanding matters.

But she said the newspaper headlines of recent days had led her to address rising concerns sooner, rather than later.

The Minister said before the TerraNova results came back, the Ministry did have concerns about student achievement, particularly at the senior level.

However, when asked what was causing the low grades, she said she believed it was not anything in particular, such as curriculum, teacher ability or problems at the middle schools, but said it was a multi-faceted issue, and one the Ministry and the schools wished to address now.

She added: "The BEST strategy does not mean everything is frozen in time until X dates. It's a question of raising the bar and setting a higher standard.

"We recognise that our results aren't where they should be."

President of the BUT Anthony Wolffe, who was a member of the BEST group, was at the conference yesterday and commented on the strategy from a teacher's point of view, particularly the additional training.

He said some teachers may have had reservations about the strategy simply because they were working an in inclusive system, but had never been trained to deal with the problems that it brought.

"I think it is a very good strategy to improve the system and the union is very much in support of it," said Mr. Wolffe.

But referring to the teacher reservations, he added: "I think a lot of the problem is from the fact that we are put in the classroom and are expected to do things we are not necessarily trained to do.

"The union has always advocated training for teachers in the system. We have not been properly trained to deal with the system as it is today."