The Ministry of Education is to increase its focus on counselling as part of a plan to keep black males in school.

The initiative, announced in Friday's Throne Speech, comes after a report on young black men found 50 percent were dropping out before completing high school.

At a press conference yesterday, Education Minister El James said the Ministry will now assess the current counsellor-to-student ratio to determine if more counsellors are needed or whether the current numbers can handle the job.

"Recently we had a study done on our black males," he said. "The success and failure of our males continues to be a concern for everyone in our public school system. We have a lot of plans that we will be revealing for the black male."

Mr. James did not outline the Ministry's plans however as stated in the Throne Speech, the hope is to "expand and hone the skills of existing school counsellors to include the provision of skilled career guidance to better prepare students for careers in Bermuda's economy".

Columbia University professor Ronald Mincy released a detailed report on the plight of black males last week.

It also recommended more counselling in the Island's schools: "These schools desperate need increased guidance and career counselling so that academic or behavioural problems some black Bermudian males encounter can be identified early and the career interests and steps to post secondary education can be identified for those who are on course to graduate from college."

Dr. Mincy's study also outlined three key recommendations not addressed in the Throne Speech: Multiple Pathways would identify risk factors for becoming an over-age or under-credited student; the Quantum Opportunities Project would refer poor performing middle school students to community-based organisations for mentoring, case management, tutoring and other youth development activities; Career Academics, small schools offering education based on specific career-based themes.