If Bermuda does not return to basics in education, the school system will continue to spiral downward to disaster as in the US and UK.

Retiring St. George's Preparatory principal Mervyn Moorehead sounded this warning during the school mid-term break, some six months before he is scheduled to end 39 years of teaching.

An advocate of focusing on the three Rs, particularly reading in primary school, Mr. Moorehead told The Royal Gazette : "I happen to think that Bermuda's primary school system has been excellent and I base that on the fact that we have children from all over the world here.

"But we need to go back to basics in primary school. The lack of literacy is becoming a problem and we need to nip it in the bud.'' Mr. Moorehead -- who came to Bermuda from Northern Ireland in September 1960 to take up a three-year contract at St. George's Preparatory and later gained status -- admitted that it was the Island's climate which attracted him. But once here, he said, it was the people who made him stay.

"I came to a segregated school system,'' he recalled in the wide-ranging interview. "Prior to coming here, the only black people that I met were a couple of fellows from Nigeria. They were very nice chaps from university.

"That (the segregated school system in Bermuda) was a big surprise to me, especially since I was being greeted by Bermudians of every colour.'' While there were not any black students at St. George's Grammar, as the school was known at the time, Mr. Moorehead pointed out that the school was among the first to "integrate without any fuss'' because the chairman of the board was the Minister of Education.

"Within two years the school was fully integrated,'' he said. "Our school population mirrors Bermuda's. We have a 60 percent black population and 40 percent white population. It has remained that way consistently.

"The key was the first couple of years. The black parents whose children attended told other black parents about the school.

"Once you get a family into a school, they tend to stay. It is a big strength.'' Mr. Moorehead conceded that the school was once viewed as a "snobby'' school which only took in the "good kids''.

But he said: "We have had a good cross section of Bermuda's community.

"I have children of single parents, not knocking single parents, and children from horrible family backgrounds and wonderful family backgrounds.'' However, Mr. Moorehead pointed out that the school was able to turn out so many success stories because of the role it played in students' lives.

"I think we have become families for them,'' he said. "We are the moms and dads to them in many instances. We should set the examples. Whether that continues beyond the school walls, I don't know.'' Stressing that parents supported the school's stance on discipline, Mr.

Moorehead noted: "My code of conduct is if you transgress, you will suffer the consequences, including corporal punishment. But that will only happen in distressful situations.

"For example, should a boy punch a girl. That boy will definitely suffer the consequences. The same would apply to bad language. It is not tolerated here.

"I think parents know what goes on in this school. And if you're sending your child to this school, you will expect that your child will show respect to staff and their peers.'' Parents, staff and students at the only aided primary school in Bermuda are also well aware of Mr. Moorehead's teaching philosophy.

"School is a place to learn,'' he stressed. "Children are sent to school to learn and it is our job to make them learn and it is the parents' job to support the school.

"I have a great staff of teachers and I have the power of picking them. My staff are incredibly strong. We believe we have the same ethic -- "you're here to learn and you will learn''. It is a rare philosophy with people in education these days, that children will meet our requirements.'' St. George's Preparatory also did not "jump on every education method'' which came along.

Mr. Moorehead said the only "experiment'' in education he was willing to accept -- with the encouragement of staff and the support of parents -- was the computer.

He boasted that St. George's Preparatory was the first public school to have a computer room and the first to get plugged into the Internet.

But while technologically advanced, the school still placed emphasis on the three R's, the veteran principal stressed.

"I'm a firm believer in the basics and I think we are going to see in the next five years schools going back to basics,'' Mr. Moorehead said. "Teach the reading, writing, and counting and skip all the strange and great sounding things that are built into the school curriculum now that doesn't matter.

"There's just one subject that really matters in primary school and that is reading.

"I think we are going to see a big back to basics movement. If we don't, we will continue to spiral down to disaster like what is happening in the UK and US.'' Asked his views on local education reform, Mr. Moorehead -- who has taught some three generations in Bermuda -- said he could see the benefits of middle schools, but was not a supporter of "large schools'' for the senior level.

"I'm sorry we lost the Primary Seven group,'' he admitted, noting that as a result of this St. George's Preparatory's student population dropped from about 160 to 130.

"But I think the middle school idea, providing everybody is doing their job, is a good idea because they're putting children in a three-year span together and it's a good time for students that age.

"Concerning the next level, I'm not a supporter of large schools. Bermuda is much too small a community and particularly in this day and age to put into place a large school community. I don't agree with that.

"It (the senior school) is there now so it's got to be given a chance. But I am bothered by the size. Other places are closing them (large schools) and saying they don't work.'' Mr. Moorehead and his wife, Audrey, who is also a teacher, have two daughters, Kerry Lamb and Heather Moorehead, and a three-year-old grandson, Eliot who was one of the reasons for Mr. Moorehead's retirement.

"I want to spend time with him,'' he said.

Mr. Moorehead also plans to enjoy golfing, cooking and travelling.

"That was the good thing about being a teacher because you could travel for two months in the summer,'' he said. "I love to ride trains in Europe, going from country to country.'' Somewhat fluent in French and German, he said he particularly enjoyed becoming immersed in a foreign speaking country.

And although he will miss education, Mr. Moorehead stressed that he had no desire to move on to the administration side of the profession.

"I don't think there was any other job I was cut out for. I'm strictly a battleground man,'' he said. "I've always loved this job. It's the kids and the parents.'' However, Mr. Moorehead admitted that teaching was becoming increasingly difficult.

"I wish we can get rid of just half of the paperwork,'' he said, adding that most educators wanted to get back to doing what they were trained to do -- teach.

"I don't worry about teachers. My worries are elsewhere,'' he continued.

"But you get your reward when you pick up the morning paper and see that a former student has moved up to the head of a firm or (Government) department.

"Before I leave one of the last things I want to do is hear from as many of the former students as I can just to let me know where they are and what they are doing.''