Public Schools will publish their results starting in 2009, the Minister of Education pledged yesterday. And free tuition to Bermuda College may be coming this year, the Minister said the public would "hear more about that in the Budget Speech".

At a news conference mapping out a timeline for improving the standards of public schooling the Minister of Education Randolph Horton said: "Rigorous academic performance standards for students will be established and enforced, and each school will be measured against annual performance standards to determine academic growth of students."

The changes include:

&%9658; Pilot testing, which will be used to set the standards for future exams, starting this June.

&%9658; A curriculum audit to ensure that the exams align with the content students are learning.

? Curriculum exams for all public school students in P3 — S2 starting June 2009.

? Results of curriculum exams will be made public.

&%9658; Schools that have seen a change in exam results will receive "recognition, rewards and sanctions" starting in 2010

? Social promotion, where students are promoted to the next grade because of their age despite failing to pass classes and examinations, will no longer take place.

Mr. Horton also said there would be a "more hierarchical" structure for the Ministry of Education.

It involves the creation of three new senior officials who will report directly to the Chief Education Officer on their area of responsibility, and be held "directly accountable" for any successes or failings.

The new structure will have three directors.

? The Director of Academics will monitor the curriculum, learning support professional development and assessment of schools.

? The Director of Business Functions will concentrate on recruiting staff, ensuring staff are paid timely, budgeting staff development, and implementing a facilities plan.

? The Director of Educational Standards and accountability will be charged with monitoring the principals at the Island's public schools, which will be split into "six clusters".

? Each cluster, of which one is comprised of both the Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy, will be overseen by an official who will report to the Director.

The changes were made after the Interim Education Board (IEB) set about to examine all areas of education and make recommendations for reforms.

Mr. Horton said: "It is clear the IEB is doing important and substantive work."

It is hoped that the reforms will address issues raised in the damning Hopkins report, which was published last May and concluded that the public education system was "on the brink of meltdown".