comprehensive education in a hard hitting speech to MPs yesterday.

And he said it was wrong to axe entrance exams just because they were deemed discriminatory to black males.

He told the House of Assembly yesterday: "In 1992 the secondary school entrance exam was abolished in the belief that it was discriminatory.

"In what way? We know life is a challenge. That's what's wrong with black males -- we don't challenge them. We don't challenge them at 11.

"Then at 21 we want them to get a family and get a job. We say we won't give you an exam -- it challenges you too much, it's too much stress.'' He said poor educational standards had led to police recruits being dropped from cadet courses because they were illiterate.

"We are bringing up weaklings. This is why we have to import policemen.'' "Comprehensive education has failed in every country in the world. It failed in England, it failed in the US and Canada and it's failing in Bermuda.

"Are we going to continue on this slippery slope simply because that is the foundation we have built on? We are building an empire on shaky foundations.'' Mr. Perinchief said he had gained a masters degree after studying at local schools despite coming from a family of ten where his parents were not home much. "I wasn't born with a silver spoon in my mouth, but I wasn't deterred.

I wanted to compete when I took the test. We were disadvantaged black males but we rose to the challenge. We have become paternalistic, we can't do that.

The world's a cruel place.'' He said people shouldn't be frightened of tests.

"All a test does is determine the speed a child can learn. Some of us took an extra year. But at the end of the day you took an exam which said you had qualified.'' He said slow students could be given extra help. "Let's stop this foolishness which says everyone learns at the same pace. "Let's stop buying into this stupid liberal conception. We are not the same, it's killing us. Whatever happened to the notion that one bad apple spoils the bunch? We need to stop this foolishness about comprehensive education.'' He said US General Colin Powell provided a good example of someone who had not used his background as an excuse despite being raised in New York's rough Bronx by immigrant parents and attending ordinary local schools.

He said: "He did better than people from West Point. Let's stop this stereotyping.'' He said the comprehensive system had been developed elsewhere to provide factory fodder which made it totally inappropriate for Bermuda.

"We should have recognised we don't have an economy based on heavy industry.

We were always about service.'' See also Page 4