"revolutionise'' the Island's restructured schools system.

That was the view of curriculum coordinator of the education restructuring team Dr. Helen Stemler after a workshop last Monday.

Dr. Stemler said the plans evolved at the workshop held at the Belmont Hotel with education officers and teachers would "revolutionise'' Bermuda's school system.

"We need to give the community hope,'' she said. "It (the new curriculum) is relevant to the society, meaningful to children, and can be one of the most rigorous school systems in the world.'' Curriculum instructor of the evaluation team for the Department of Education, Dr. Joseph Christopher, said the main focus of the two-day workshop was to prepare the curriculum writing committee for the new curriculum for middle schools and senior schools.

"The initial focus is with the middle school,'' Dr. Christopher said.

Dr. Stemler said the workshop was a curriculum leadership retreat consisting of education officers and teachers from different departments of the school system.

She said writing the new curriculum will take about six years.

She added that there are 20 instructional priorities for the new school system which would be "infused into the curriculum in the next several years''.

The list consists of priorities such as Bermudianisation which would ensure that wherever possible, Bermudian practices or role models would be stressed to students.

"Bermudianisation would focus on things like experiences and activities which encourage students to learn about and appreciate themselves as Bermudians, their abilities, and Bermudian interests and uniqueness,'' Dr. Stemler said.

Another instructional priority is career education which "provides young people with opportunities and experiences to increase their knowledge of themselves and their potential, to explore educational and occupational possibilities'', she said. "It also teaches them to acquire the skills necessary for sound decision making and career planning over the course of their lives.'' Information technology would provide people with the skills necessary to fully use computers and modern technology.

Multicultural education, which is also in the list of instructional priorities, promotes the recognition, understanding and acceptance of individual uniqueness and cultural diversity within a society.

Dr. Stemler also said she was preparing a first ever 100-page "how to'' curriculum writing handbook to be given to all educational officers and teachers in September.

"The book will standardise the way we write the curriculum and it will teach us how to write a quality curriculum. It is also ... written by teachers for teachers.''