In recent times, I have written extensively about public education because public educations caters to the overwhelming majoring of the student population.

But, like most democratic countries, there is, and perhaps will always be a place for private educational institutions for a variety of reasons. These reasons, inter alia, will include harnessing the private sector to fuel reform in making schools competitive with one another by allowing parents to choose where to send their children to school and by making it possible for new and different kinds of schools to come into being.

In the schools that have succeeded, a common thread of creativity, passion and entrepreneurism runs through their efforts. They each demand more of their students, teachers and principals, by raising standards, measuring performance and rewarding success.

They hold both the adults and the students accountable for their actions. They have moved power down to the school level, giving principals the ability to make hiring and firing decisions and giving teachers, within guidelines, the authority to discipline their students.

These conditions or principles seem to exist overwhelmingly in private schools and are solely missing in public schools. Public schools are the textbook consequence of having an educational system with few penalties for failure and not enough reward for success.

The purpose of an education is not merely to prepare citizens for work, it is to prepare them for life -- for the eminently practical tasks of living well, thinking wisely, and acting sensibly.

When effectively executed, education serves not to separate but to unite the races, ethnic groups and classes endowing them with a respect for their respective cultures, an appreciation for commonly shared values and reverence for diligence, truth and compassion.

When our schools fail to fulfil this vital role, Bermudians, especially those least able to learn these lessons at home, are forever diminished -- and we, as country, are diminished as well.

We, therefore, must seriously address the staggering number of undereducated teenagers graduating from our high schools. In this new global economy, it is a form of social injustice for innumerate and illiterate school-leavers to be virtually unemployable or are locked in a low wage future.

Parents are thinking of new ways to provide their children with a good education. The ongoing evolution of education must not, therefore, become the product of partisan fighting or political positioning. We should compliment and reward schools, both public and private,whose students consistently attain a high level of achievement.

This leads me to a very good visit I recently had to one of our high schools.

On Thursday, February 15, I responded to an invitation to visit Warwick Academy.

The physical plant was neat, tidy and spotlessly clean. Students were polite and welcoming to visitors. The mood in the classes seems to be cooperative and purposeful. The school is very well integrated and it appears to be a very harmonious community. The student body clearly reflects racial demographics of the Island.

There is a great deal of involvement in extra-curricular activities. Students participate in virtually all of the local sports. Warwick Academy has long been renowned for its music programme. The Warwick Academy Orchestra is very well known nationally, and I have had the pleasure of listening to them on a number of occasions.

At the academic level, Warwick Academy can point to truly impressive results.

For each of the last two years, a Bermudian boy from Warwick Academy has been the leading student at the highest-level summer schools -- Oxford and Cambridge.

Jay Butler was the first in 1999 and Ryan Swan followed him in 2000. "We have plenty of students capable of achieving at that level'', said the Headmaster Mr. Robert Lennox.

The Headmaster went on to say that, "it really is like making it to the world cup finals -- in the company of the best in the world''. Surely these efforts merit support.

The lasting impression that I formed during my walk about was that whilst in relationships the successes both academic and social are here for all to see and it's a matter of record, the school functions with facilities that are below par. Their immediate need is for a new sports hall. They need and deserve our help to build a new sports hall.

I did a thorough walk about and had extensive discussions with the Headmaster who enthusiastically shared his vision and plan for the school. Great care has been taken by the Headmaster and the Board of Trustees to enhance Warwick Academy's physical plant and its academic offerings by clear, targeted development.

Each subject department and the primary section have clear short-term and long-term goals, with periods of review and adjustment. I was told by the Headmaster that the Primary sector has just been evaluated by an inspector from England wholly for the express purpose of making further progress.

Whilst the inspector had many kind things to say about the quality of the teachers and their overall caring and nurturing approach, he did make concrete proposals for further development. These proposals have been embodied into the development plan and matched with staff development plans. This is a fine model to ensure progress.

I learned that the secondary department has benefited from employing an inspector from England for a discrete three-year period as a Deputy Head. The gentleman in question has lead the development of the senior middle management curriculum team.

As a consequence of his leadership, the Headmaster feels that there is now strong, effective, collective decision making together with the exercise of responsibility and authority. Similarly, a team of Year Heads have been nurtured by another Deputy Head to further promote the systems and approaches which ensure the overall monitoring, progress and welfare of the students.

My visit to Warwick Academy proved very informative. I was impressed by what I saw and am confident that the school is competently preparing students for real life experiences. But to keep on the cutting edge of the ongoing evolution of education, Warwick Academy, as a private school needs our help not only to build a sports hall but also to provide adequate up-to-date facilities so that every child can reach their full potential.

Moreover my visit further reinforced my belief, which I have expressed on a number of occasions, that the schools in the public system must be given more autonomy and be more open and transparent.

The schools performance i.e. students, teachers, principals and administrators should be evaluated by independent assessors on an annual basis and the reports should be made public annually.

I am convinced with the right environment, good teaching and good parenting every child can be educated. Parents speak up for your children's education.

Every Bermudian should make their contribution as I have done in general and now will do specifically for Warwick Academy.