A programme designed to expose children to the history and culture of global African people could end as the scheme is nearing the end of its contract.

The Ashay: Rites of Passage programme was introduced into Dellwood Middle school in 2004 as a pilot programme by Mwalimu, master teacher, Melodye Mincere Van Putten, its founder.

But now the contract to deliver the programme is coming to an end and Mrs Van Putten has no idea if it will be renewed.

She said: "I have designed a qualitative and quantitative evaluation, which is being implemented by senior school teachers to assess middle school children, who have completed the programme, knowledge and understanding of what they have learned. Basically we are looking to see if and to what extent this class has had an impact on these students — years later."

Mrs Van Putten also spoke of a professor of psychology who teaches at the Bermuda College who is independently reviewing the curriculum and its training materials, as he believes it should be implemented in the middle schools. She believes the report will be helpful to the review process.

The programme was designed to expose children aged from five to 16 to the history and culture of global African people with the goal of developing self-esteem, motivation and pride.

Since it was established in Bermuda it has caused some controversy – some people believe its teachings are vital to young people helping them to gain a knowledge of a part of history that has been ignored, or washed out and that it should be continued.

They also say it is as necessary and as natural as a European history lesson which is accepted into the classroom and curriculum. Others have ridiculed the validity of the programme, saying that it is a racist, prejudice and unbalanced.

After the program had run at Dellwood for three-and-a-half years, it was introduced at Spice Valley, which has been renamed as T.N. Tatem, and Clearwater schools. At Clearwater, the programme ran from September to December 2006. It still runs at Dellwood.

The Ashay programme had been running at Spice Valley for a full year in 2006 before it was cancelled after it was reviewed by the former principal who accused the program of promoting witchcraft, according to Mrs Van Putten.

"Unfortunately, the Ministry allows principals to choose the programs for their school.

"There are other schools who have requested the Ashay programme be taught at their school but because there are not properly trained staff, the programme is unable to be taught in the schools," said Mrs. Van Putten.

Mrs Van Putten added: "The reason why we need to seriously study global African History is because of the critical times we are in, worldwide.

"All over the planet, people of African descent are negatively affected by high unemployment, crime, teenage pregnancy, AIDS, illiteracy, homelessness and drug abuse.

"Because black Bermudians are the richest African people on the planet, with the most access to education and technology it is my belief that Bermuda can be an example to the rest of the world."

The Ashay: Rites of Passage programme is the study of African, Bermudian and the Diaspora, black people outside Africa. It is a values educational programmes which focus on empowerment for all people.

Recently, the Ministry of Social Rehabilitation sponsored an Ashay course entitled 'Know Thy Self'. There was a course evaluation given at the end where students were allowed to comment anonymously on the class.

Comments included 'I was finally introduced to my history as a black Bermudian', 'It made sense. And it is finally a course that put personal development in the context of the community and the world we live in', 'I found this course very informative. I had never taken a black history course before.' The last comment was given by a white student, which was one of many who supported the programme.

Radell Tankard, Acting Permanent Secretary for Education said, "The Ministry does not see the program as witchcraft and is in the process of looking at the entire school curriculum, including the Ashay, and is unable to say at this time if the Ashay programme will continue."

Africalogist, Melodye Mincere Van Putten has been and educational consultant, writer and lecturer for over 20 years.

She received a B.A. and a M.A from Temple University in Philadelphia and completed course work for a doctorate in African American Studies. She is also certified in Multicultural Training and Education from Temple's School of Social Work.

Mrs. Van Putten is currently working on a system-wide implementation of Ashay: Rites of Passage as character education in Bermuda.

This work includes the development of a three-year middle school curriculum, writing a 400-page teacher training manual and designing and coordination the Ashay Teachers' Summer Institute.