He spent much of his career in Bermuda, having served as head of department at the old Bermuda Technical Institute, and then at Bermuda College. He taught, lectured and organised syllabuses and courses, frequently liaising with industry.

For many years he taught different subjects in England at all levels -- junior, secondary and tertiary -- and also worked with severely handicapped children.

Prior to arriving in Bermuda he served as a section head at Malawi University and the Botswana Polytechnic, and was technical training officer with the Bahamas Electricity Corporation, in charge of all technical training.

He is well remembered in Bermuda for his services to football, having qualified as an FA coach and FIFA referee.

Of the following article, he says: "My motive for writing was purely objective, despite being subjectively involved.

"This was because it grieved me to see what was happening to education in Bermuda. I have no other axe to grind.'' Before coming to Bermuda in the first instance I was a full-time teacher and lecturer at secondary and tertiary level.

After leaving Bermuda I taught, lectured and was in educational organisation at all levels -- junior, secondary and tertiary -- besides having periods in industry in technical training.

Most of this experience was gained in Africa and the Caribbean, although I recently returned to the UK from Bermuda after completing a short specialist contract in secondary education.

Whilst I was in Bermuda there was much discussion, re the future of education in Bermuda and I was prevailed upon to write a dissertation on the subject.

Unfortunately, the completed rough draft was misplaced on my return to the UK, but this is a shorter version of that article.

In it I have selected what I consider to be some of the more important points: points which I consider to be highly relevant to the present and future well-being of education in Bermuda.

Some of my opinions and ideas may be considered in some areas to be rather outre, but one of the things that has bedevilled education for years in Bermuda has been the reluctance of people concerned to talk freely and honestly and/or criticise (with some justification, too!).

I shall sectionalise my comments, although of necessity, one section must overlap and influence another. It is virtually impossible to separate them fully.

DISCIPLINE IN SCHOOLS This is the single most important factor influencing the quality of education in any school, but especially in Government schools in Bermuda.

Having just spent a year in a Government high school and having had "eye-witness'', "ad verbatim'' reports of happenings in other schools, I am literally horrified by the decline in general standards of behaviour and attitude of the so-called students; beginning in junior schools.

I will not go into the factors creating this situation. Generally they have been engendered by the permissive society, the do-gooders, the educationalists and the sociologists.

However, because there are increasing behavioural problems outside schools at all levels, there is absolutely no reason why the problems should be allowed to exist in schools.

Apart from the effect of the permissive society, the basic reason that problems do exist in schools -- and anyone who denies it is either dishonest, a charlatan or an ostrich -- is because there is no adequate form of deterrent against bad behaviour, inside the schools themselves.

Some students can be completely disruptive in class, most show no respect for staff, many others are rude to the point of insolence, many are generally badly behaved. Unfortunately they have come to accept this behaviour as the norm.

The poor teacher, who is in the front line of the action, has very little effective disciplinary deterrent to which he or she can recourse.

The students know this, and in some cases set out deliberately to do "their own thing''.

This inevitably snowballs to peer participation and renders the whole process of teaching and learning in a classroom of little value.

At the end of the day the system is producing second-class citizens with a very poor attitude and very little attainment potential.

What is the remedy? The remedy is for the powers-that-be to come down from their lofty perches, scrap the liberal do-gooders ideas of "thou shalt not punish'' and institute a fair, just, but rigorous standardised system of discipline and immediate punishment throughout the school system.

All misdemeanours should be effectively punished: the severity of the punishment being related to the seriousness of the offence.

Class disrupters and persistent offenders should be removed from the classroom scene completely and as soon as possible.

Children need to be disciplined and shown what is acceptable behaviour until the discipline comes from within. They quickly learn! You may think that I am exaggerating, and you may be backed in your opinion by certain heads and teachers who want to prove that there is nothing wrong in their schools or classes.

Allow me to assure you: I am not exaggerating.

Despite my many years of experience in many different situations I was quite prepared to "throw in the towel'' half-way through my contract. I was only dissuaded from so-doing because it would have left a serious vacuum in that position and at that time.

TEACHERS Bermuda has this fetish for paper qualifications. It is impossible to be even considered for some educational and sociological positions without a Masters degree.

This is absolute nonsense. Some degrees from some seats of learning aren't worth the paper on which they are written, and in some cases people have taken so long to obtain that degree that they have had little experience in the field itself.

Junior school teachers should have attended good, recognised training colleges for long enough to have been taught the practical aspects of teaching -- with practice, and to have extended the general know-how and knowledge they have assimilated before entering college. They do not need a degree. (About the only specialist teachers needed in a junior school are perhaps music, and PE).

Teachers to GCSE level should have been trained, (a) to teach and; (b) to a high enough level in their discipline. Again, a degree may be desirable, but is not necessary.

HEAD TEACHERS Here we enter a very grey area.

The only people who can really assess the effectiveness of a head are his staff and to a certain extent pragmatic parents of the children in that school.

Again, the Head of any school does not need a Doctorate, a Masters, or indeed a degree of any description, less it be some qualification in management.

The Head of a junior school should have taught in junior education for a number of years and should have a good proven track record of teaching and administration of some form.

Similarly, in Bermuda, a Head of a Government secondary school should have taught in a Government secondary school (High) and have the same proven abilities as his/her junior counterpart.

However, a Head once appointed should be monitored -- even by his own staff, although that could be a dangerous practice, and he/she should be given the full backing of the Department for viable schemes and the imposition of discipline. Now Department edicts limit these.

Unfortunately, these guidelines have not been followed in the past in Bermuda, and part of the fault for the parlous state of Government education can be attributed to this.

In Bermuda there are many considerations in attendance when a Head is appointed: We should all be aware of what some of these are, and I shall not herein enumerate them. It becomes very complicated and often unfair.

TEACHING STAFF Having already discussed the relative merits of paper qualifications and real necessities, I will say that there are many fine, dedicated teachers in Bermuda; also many disillusioned ones. Many of these teachers are not allowed to teach to their full capabilities because of discipline problems. There are also a number of so-called teachers who shouldn't be in teaching at all.

In my opinion there are also too many women teachers pro rata in Government High Schools especially. Why? Teaching is a comparatively well-paid job. Isn't it because a man with reasonable qualifications will forego the hassle and emasculation he would suffer in teaching, for a comparatively peaceful existence in management, banking, insurance, etc.! After the Government publicly stated that it would not be recruiting any more staff from overseas I was appalled to learn, later, that they were recruiting teachers from the Caribbean. No disrespect to anyone, but standards, generally, there are lower than in Bermuda and any recruitment of teachers can only lead to a dilution of the system.

Reverting to my original point; teachers would be better able to teach if they were given the authority and wherewithal to punish class offenders and disrupters effectively.

EDUCATION OFFICERS There are too many "experts'' with ancillary staff employed at the Department.

When I started teaching in Bermuda there were less than a dozen administrative officers operating from Teucer House, yet more children in Government High Schools than today.

Yet again, despite the Government's vow to cut back on educational expenditure, last July we had adverts in the Press for yet more education officers: two indeed to monitor Heads! One wonders how many Heads there are in Bermuda, and what will be the qualifications of the people to monitor them. Perhaps one of them will be the person who was recently shuffled sideways, after failing miserably in the position she held! All the appointments referred to, and others carry lucrative salaries, which will only add to the quite phenomenal cost of the Education Department's administrative staff alone.

As I said at the beginning of the section, there are too many unnecessary "experts'' at the Department, and the Empire -- some of it "old school tie'' -- which has been steadily built up should be dismantled.

MIDDLE SCHOOLS This system offers no salvation for education in Bermuda and has been foisted on the unsuspecting, knowledgeable parliamentarians, the general public and poor Mr. Simons by a pressure group. It is obviously somebody's pet hobby-horse, which has already cost the Government hundreds of thousands of dollars to fly in "experts'' (more Canadians!) and fly out observers; though it will cost millions more to implement the plan and will take the education system years to realign itself. In the end it will not turn out any more responsible, better educated students, although the extra year may help a little.

The only advantage to this year that I can see is that it will lower the official unemployment figures.

It is not too late to halt the process of changing to a Middle School system.

The money ear-marked for the project can be better spent on improving existing facilities. With improved discipline in schools, education will take a new lease on life.

TECHNICAL AND FURTHER EDUCATION The Old Bermuda Technical Institute at Friswell's Hill was one of the best schools on the Island. Not only did it give a sound, basic academic education, but also fitted the older boys for entry into industry, etc. if they so desired.

Dedicated and expert members of staff developed the courses there until the BTI was amalgamated with other establishments to become the College.

All their efforts and the efforts of staff from other departments were nullified by yet another Canadian expert, who was introduced to "integrate'' the different disciplines.

There is now no proper technical nor craft training on the Island worth talking about.

This I say with all due deference to the lecturers on the remaining craft courses at the College.

The Bermuda College has for years been moving in certain directions.

This is not to suggest that it doesn't do a worthwhile job in its own field, but it is orientated towards office skills, business studies, computer skills and so on: not to mention raising the standards of non-achievers from high schools, etc.

There is very little technical education as such.

Recently there has been a push towards the reintroduction/expansion of craft training in the high schools, and this is an excellent idea; but it will involve a large amount of money.

It also requires/needs the advice of a practical expert who has no axe of any description to grind and who is not a political appointment.

QUALIFICATIONS AND GRADUATION (HIGH SCHOOL) As applied to high schools, graduation is a farcical phenomenon from North America which seems to have been eagerly embraced.

What it really amounts to is a school leaving ceremony; the irony being that a goodly percentage "graduating'' haven't passed any exams worth talking about, have put little effort into their time at school but for legal constraints would have left much earlier.

The BSSC, despite its adequate syllabuses in most fields, has become a poor yardstick of attainment, because in some cases the examinations do not match up to the syllabuses, in other cases there is a certain amount of tutorial chicanery, but generally the basic "Pass'' mark is abysmally low.

The English GC examination has become easier, but in both cases the certificates have no value unless the grades obtained are high enough.

This, then, is a fairly comprehensive look at education in Bermuda. It doesn't affect me personally and I have made my observations as objectively and pragmatically as possible.

As I intimated at the beginning of this dissertation, I consider the points I have raised to be highly relevant apropos the future well-being of education in Bermuda.