Teachers have thrown their weight behind a decision by the Island’s school principals to file a grievance against two Ministry of Education officials.

The Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) said yesterday that it was deeply disturbed by figures released on Thursday revealing that less than half of public school students graduated last year. And it said that it “wholeheartedly supported” the Association of School Principals (ASP), which claims to have filed a complaint against Ministry of Education permanent secretary (PS) Rosemary Tyrrell and acting chief education officer Joeann Smith for being unprepared to talk about desperately-needed reforms.

BUT general secretary Mike Charles said: “Like the ASP, we have been talking to the Ministry about some of those things which would help to move education forward for some time.

“I suppose we never considered taking such drastic measures but we totally agree with the ASP and their call for a board of inquiry.”

He said that Education Minister Randy Horton’s pledge to hold a comprehensive review into the public education system this year must be carried out.

“We have had many inquiries before. We hope that this Minister is going to follow through. An inquiry is great but not if we are just going to put it on a shelf.

“Whenever a crisis like this happens they go to this inquiry which keeps people at bay for a while and then they just carry on in a like fashion. Hopefully we have a new Minister and a new PS and they will do something different.”

He added that BUT members marched on parliament in 1999 to ask for an urgent review of education. “We were told by then-Premier Dame Jennifer Smith that there was no need for an inquiry because the Government already knew what was wrong. More than seven years later we still have not seen evidence of a plan to improve our system.

“What we have seen is a steady decline in the number of children who complete the requirements to graduate from senior school.”

Mr. Charles said what was needed was consistency in curriculum and testing across the public school system and major changes at the middle school level. And he said Ministry of Education officials needed to stop speaking “rhetoric” and open up to change.

“It’s demoralising for those dedicated teachers working very hard to see these kind of results,” he added. “There are people who are doing their damndest and because of the way the system is it almost prevents you from succeeding. It can change; we just have to have a will to change it.”

Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell described the graduation rate of 48 percent as “saddening but not surprising”. He said: “There is a need to bring about major educational reform to the system. We need to conduct an inquiry into the structure of public education to better understand how it’s working. It is clearly not serving the needs of our children.”

He agreed that the BUT had been calling for a review for years. “A tremendous amount of time has been wasted and the consequences to our children have been rather substantial,” he said. “It really concerns me, the level of inactivity that this current Government has taken with regard to public education.The Government needs to take responsibility for this tragic and regrettable outcome.”

Gerald Swan, chairman of CedarBridge Academy parent-teacher-student association, said this year’s graduation rate was unacceptable. He said: “He (the Education Minister) said he was going to have a review. Let’s wait and see.”

A CedarBridge teacher - who asked not to be named - said a review of the education system was long overdue, adding: “I believe the current Minister and the permanent secretary can and will do something about this.”

Kenneth Dill, head of the civil service, told The Royal Gazette yesterday that a grievance against Ms Tyrrell and Ms Smith had not been filed with him.

But Alan Leigh, general secretary of the ASP, insisted that the complaint had been hand delivered to the Cabinet office on Thursday morning in an envelope marked for Mr. Dill’s attention.

* Are you a parent or teacher concerned about the state of education? If so, we want to know your views. Call Sam Strangeways on 278-0155 or email sstrangeways[AT]royalgazette.bm.