The Ministry of Education is considering keeping schools open throughout the year as part of an effort to stamp out gang violence and get young men off the streets.

Although just an idea at the moment, Education Minister El James said it could move forward if there is favourable public reaction.

"One of the things we are looking at is the possibility of year-round school," he said. "It facilitates continuous learning because the children will be out of school for shorter periods.

"So let's just imagine what we would do. Let's say we split it up into four nine-week terms so nine weeks on and two weeks off. The teacher would have to spend less time in re-teaching like they do now at the end of the summer."

The concept wasn't embraced by all stakeholders.

Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons and chairman of Bermuda Educational Parents' Association Myron Piper, both questioned how gang violence could be reduced by lengthening the school year. Dr. Gibbons suggested it might be more effective to extend the school day while Mr. Piper pointed out that the constant drudge could make students tired of school.

The Education Minister said the idea came from discussions on out-of-school suspensions where it was suggested that year-round school could help violence to decrease.

"There has been a lot of talk about gang violence and how it begins," he explained. "When those boys are out of school, they are involved with the wrong boys. With that fact there, we are looking at the home school system.

"We are definitely going to eliminate out-of-school suspension. And we are looking at the long summer break when the children are allowed to roam the streets."

He explained how the idea could be beneficial to students and teachers.

"There's less opportunity for burnout in either teacher or student. And the vacation time in the new system would be used as an enrichment time. And the big thing is we're keeping them off the streets [and in that way] we were hoping that we can eliminate some of our young males being involved in the negative behaviour out there.

"This is not a done deal. It's in the discussion phase. We've looked at several models and we're still looking. The US has it in some states and China has it so there are several places that have it and are using it successfully.

"With something like this we can float an idea and see how the public responds."

Dr. Gibbons said there are many issues that would need to be worked out if the Ministry is seriously considering the proposal.

"If year-round school is a serious initiative from the Ministry, and not just floating a balloon, then they need to come back with a definitive proposal for parents and the education community, setting out the pros and cons, as well as costs and staffing requirements, etc.

"That would include clear evidence indicating that year-round school would help to stop gang violence if, in fact, that's their principle reason for suggesting it."

The Opposition MP said one of the issues would be taking away the summer vacation where many teachers travel as well as students with their parents.

He suggested extending the school day as an alternative.

"Extending the current school day would eliminate the unsupervised period from 3.30 until 5, 5.30 p.m. that's often a challenge for working parents and may prevent some children from getting into problems in that after-school window before parents arrive home," he said.

"From my perspective, we would need to have a lot more information from the Minister before one could make a serious decision on this if this is something that needs to be pursued."

While the concept has positives and negatives, Mr. Piper said he doesn't think it will solve the Island's gang problem.

"I don't think that it will stop gang violence by having a longer school year. I think the gang violence is actually a psychological culture. I don't think going to school year-round would combat that. I think that year-round would have both positives and negatives."

Mr. Piper said some of the positives include giving kids more time to excel and more time to put into the curriculum.

As a negative, he said that having school year-round could make children tired of school, especially with the short breaks.

"I just fear people that are not scholastically gifted, having to go longer will stress them out emotionally longer. It's more difficult to come back from mental fatigue than physical."

• What do you think? Should schools be kept open year-round? E-mail news@royalgazette.bm.