Students in the public school system are allowed to graduate without having the minimum grade point average (GPA) to get into an American college or university.

The minimum GPA for graduating students in Government senior schools is 1.0 a D.

Berkeley Institute recently graduated 126 students, with 84 percent having a 2.0 or above. CedarBridge Academy graduated 113 students, with 80 having a 2.0 or above.

The Ministry of Education pledged to raise its standards last year to require students to graduate with the minimum to enrol in college or university in the US. Education Minister El James said last November: "Realistically I would like to have seen everyone graduated with a 2.0 GPA or better. We didn't lower the standards.

"However, from this point we are raising the bar. In order to graduate, they have to enter a 2.0 or better."

At that time, the Ministry said students would be expected to meet standards it had set two years prior 104 credits, a 2.0 GPA and a required amount of community service.

Yesterday however, a spokesman said the 2.0 minimum would not come into effect until this September for students graduating in 2011.

Berkeley has pledged to raise its minimum to 2.25 in 2013.

Board chairman Craig Bridgewater said: "Currently, in order to earn the Berkeley graduation certificate, a student must attain a minimum GPA of 2.0. A student that did not earn a GPA of 2.0 did not receive a Berkeley graduation certificate.

"You will recall that we recently increased this requirement to 2.25 effective for students who have just completed S1, and therefore expected to graduate in 2013. [It therefore becomes] effective in 2013."

Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons questioned the standards in place.

"Now we're told that the Berkeley Institute just graduated 126 students with only 84 percent having a 2.0 GPA or above and CedarBridge graduated 113 students with 80 having over a 2.0.

"What happened to the Minister's promise about requiring a 2.0 GPA or above? Was this just lip service? Is the Ministry now lowering standards again?

"Parents and the public deserve an explanation for what increasingly sounds like a numbers game at students' and parents' expense."

He continued: "On paper, the graduation rate appears to be increasing and this is encouraging. We warmly congratulate the students who did graduate this June as well as the teachers and parents who were instrumental in their success.

"But graduation results must be more than simply a numbers game. Bermuda and real-world experience has demonstrated that graduation statistics are meaningful only if the graduates have been well-prepared for the workforce and/or higher education here and abroad. Frankly it's been difficult to feel any confidence over the last few years that this preparation has been satisfactorily achieved.

"Hopefully, with the full introduction of the Cambridge Curriculum this coming school year, both parents and the public will have a more international benchmark with which to judge graduation results."

Dr. Gibbons also renewed his call for an independent standards board which would analyse and release education results.