The Middle School at Sandys will open this Monday despite not being 100 percent ready, the Education Minister revealed yesterday.

Deputy Premier Jerome Dill yesterday told Hamilton Lions that the West End middle school will not be 100 percent ready for the first day of school.

Despite this, he said the principal of the school had informed him that the school will open.

According to the Education Minister, parents and teachers had pitched in to help get the school ready for students.

And he said that type of spirit would help make Bermuda move from having a pyramid where just a few students on the top "taking the world by storm'' and the rest on the bottom.

Mr. Dill said the Education Department was trying to invert that pyramid, to having a large number of world-class students.

"It is that kind of spirit (at the Middle School at Sandys) that will help ensure that we invert the pyramid,'' he said.

Mr. Dill also said the Education Department would not allow classrooms to become disrupted by bad behaviour.

He said he has already communicated to principals that classrooms were for learning.

"I won't hesitate to support principals who feel they have to expel students,'' he said.

However, he said every effort would be made to deal with students with disruptive behaviour before they are expelled.

"We will do all we can to go through the proper channels when dealing with disruptive behaviour.

"We will do all we can to help them,'' he said. "But if the time comes when we have to make that call, I will back them.'' During a question and answer period Mr. Dill said that there were several options open to those students who found themselves outside of the school system, including the adult education programme and the Bermuda College Best Steps programme.

And citing the parent involvement at the Middle School at Sandys, Mr. Dill invited all parents to become involved in their children's education.

"Parents could come and say `what can we do to help','' he said. "No volunteers will be turned away.''