Parents have called a public meeting tomorrow night to protest at the axing of the Ashay: Rites of Passage programme in the Island's middle schools.

The African studies subject has been taught at Dellwood Middle School since 2004 and has appeared on the curriculum at other middle schools, including Whitney Institute, TN Tatem and Clearwater.

But the Ministry of Education dropped it this academic year for financial reasons without an official announcement — after spending tens of thousands of dollars on textbooks, other classroom resources and a consultant's fees.

Ministry consultant Melodye Micere Van Putten, the founder of the three-year programme, suggested that the ongoing reform of public schools was also a contributory factor.

"I have still not been officially notified," she said. "What was found out was that Ashay was not being offered this year and the effort to re-implement it has been stalled."

The PTSA at Dellwood is so disappointed at the loss of Ashay — which means "it is good" in the West African Yoruba language — that it has asked Ministry officials to attend tomorrow's meeting from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the school's cafetorium and explain the decision.

PTSA president Ruth Moran said the meeting was to "inform the general public that this phenomenal programme has been suspended and to let the powers-that-be and those that make decisions know that we want it back".

She said her 13-year-old daughter Waverley benefited hugely from the Ashay programme, which she described as an excellent way of teaching children their own value and worth, as well as giving them the rare chance to learn about African history in school.

"Africa is a part of this world and part of everyone's history, regardless of race," said Mrs. Moran. "Ashay teaches them that the world is waiting for the geniuses that they are and it encourages them to explore their own thoughts and their own feelings in regard to everything going on in the world."

She said of the meeting: "It's open to anyone that has anyone they care about in the public school system."

A Ministry spokesman told The Royal Gazette yesterday: "The decision to discontinue the Ashay programme was taken as the result of the budget reduction exercise for the 2008/09 Budget. "The Ministry of Education welcomes the input from Dellwood Middle School but there is no plan to reinstate the programme at this time."

Professor VanPutten said Ashay, which has been taught in some schools in the US for more than 20 years, included history, science, the arts, culture and language. She was asked by the Ministry about five years ago to modify it for Bermuda's middle schools, aligning it with social studies. Pupils taking the programme here have typically attended one 90-minute class a week, receiving a grade at the end of each year.

Professor VanPutten said Ashay usually got very positive responses from students and proved extremely popular at Dellwood, where it was first piloted and had the support of principal Janette Musson.

She said Sandys Secondary Middle School had wanted to introduce it for the last two years but that it had "not worked out" at TN Tatem and Clearwater.