Heading a non-academic school so influenced the Education Permanent Secretary, it put her in good stead to lead school reform over the last ten years.

And after seeing through the revolutionary changes in the Island's school system Marion Robinson will retire. But she has no plans to abandon teaching.

The veteran educator promises to help support the next phase in education reform by volunteering to read to children in her neighbourhood school.

Set to quit the Ministry in December, Dr. Robinson told The Royal Gazette literacy and numerary among young people will have to be the focus of educators in the future.

She has been Permanent Secretary for education since 1982.

She joined the Ministry in 1975 as head of curriculum development. In 1978 she was appointed a senior education officer, holding that post for four years.

"My position is the majority of children learn to read by reading anyway,'' Dr. Robinson told The Royal Gazette . "There is a value in reading and we have to improve literacy. That's the next step.

"Literacy skills are essential to success in other areas,'' she added.

Dr. Robinson said she believes: "All children can learn more than they are currently learning.'' "That challenges us to do more than we are currently doing,'' she said.

"All children do learn. That's not a belief, that's a fact. Children may learn in the wrong way, but they do learn.

"That's a powerful statement but if you believe that, then you can improve education. This community still needs to believe that all of its children are entitled to a quality education.'' After enjoying a three-month holiday which will begin in December, Dr.

Robinson said she may volunteer as a reader at her neighbourhood school, Francis Patton in Hamilton Parish.

"Down through the years I have appreciated the opportunities that principals have given me by inviting me to be a part of their reading programmes,'' she said. Such a return -- even if only as a casual volunteer -- would be ironic because Dr. Robinson oversaw the dismantling of the 11-plus examination which, up until a decade ago, primary seven students would be preparing for.

Five year olds today enter a public education system far different from one their parents or even older siblings may have.

And whether they have special needs or are from disadvantaged backgrounds, the controversial reforms Dr. Robinson oversaw now provides an even greater opportunity at a quality education.

Those reforms were based on the recommendations of the Education Planning Team which was formed from hundreds of educators and lay people tasked to evaluate the system.

Among the EPT's recommendations were the elimination of selective school entrance examinations, introduction of middle and senior schools, and the addition of a 13th year of schooling.

The Education Minister who initiated those reforms, Gerald Simons, said of Dr.

Robinson: "She very clearly understood the role of the Permanent Secretary as principal advisor to the Minister.

"I had absolute confidence in her during a politically difficult time. I am convinced that students today are likely to have a better education today than the one they were getting 13 years ago. We had a vision of what our school system should be.'' As the reforms stand, Dr. Robinson likened the development of a new curriculum to the furnishing of a new house.

"We are now finishing the house and you have to be very careful in choosing the furniture,'' she said. "For a house to be really beautiful, you have to pay attention to the details of furnishing it.'' Her experience teaching during the mid 1970s at Prospect Secondary School for Girls was an eye opener for someone who had only taught at an academic school.

Calling it "one of the most valuable periods in my experiences'', she saw the "negative effects of the selective educational system''.

Dr. Robinson said most of the students did not want to be at the school, thinking they were failures because they were unable to go to an academic one.

Other students kicked out of academic schools were an additional problem because they were "doubly embittered''.

"It was a special challenge for me and the teachers to try and convince them that we saw them as worthy and were committed to providing them with the best education,'' she explained.

"But I'm very proud for the graduates of Prospect, many of whom are making a valuable contribution to the community. I'm proud of the Berkeleyites, but Prospect worked doubly hard.'' Speaking about the purpose built CedarBridge Academy -- ironically built on the site of Prospect Secondary -- Dr. Robinson said "good percentages'' of the students had qualified for the Bermuda Secondary School Certificate.

She added: "They're on their way. (CedarBridge principal) Kalmar Richards said to me recently that now the challenge is to raise the Grade Point Average.'' She spoke glowingly of the school's after school programmes which often hold a teenager's attention and increase their self-esteem, thereby reducing destructive behaviour.

But Dr. Robinson steered clear of discussing conditions at the Ministry, housed in an old wing of King Edward VII Memorial Hospital.

She said there had been promises of a better facility bringing together all of the Ministry's departments, which still has not happened.

"The staff are to be commended for their commitment to their job in less than adequate conditions,'' she said.

And she had only a one-word answer to a question about her relationship with the media: "Uneasy''.

After all of her years in the Education Ministry, Dr. Robinson said she believed education reform efforts should be approached just as countries see national crises.

"We have to look at it as if we are in a state of natural crisis,'' she said.

"If we really believe that, then our survival depends on it.'' The Education Permanent Secretary's post, which carries a $113,812 annual salary, was advertised in the Official Gazette last week. The closing date for applications is today.

Dr. Marion Robinson: The veteran educator promises to help support the next phase in education reform by volunteering to read to children in her neighbourhood school.