Politicians don’t listen

May 6, 2007

Dear Sir,

This review of education will be new to only one group of people on this island: politicians. What this (no doubt expensive ) report clearly outlines are all the things that people have been screaming at both governments for over 30 years. It couldn’t have been hard to write. I could have done it. You could have done it. Walk down any street in town, stop the first person you see and ask them.

Whoever they were they could have given you the “ten point plan.” But our Government likes to pay big for things. Always has. So what the Government has been getting for free for years, they have now paid for. All this convinces me of one thing. I have met politicians. In Bermuda you run into them more than you would like. I have seen the fleshy appendages sticking out of the sides of their heads.

I call mine ears. But they must not have the same thing. Because I can hear with mine. Maybe theirs are made of plastic and they stick them on with Velcro every morning.

JOHN ZUILL

Brisbane, Australia

Formerly of Pembroke

Slow down, smarten up

May 2, 2007

Dear Sir,

I write this letter with a very heavy heart. This morning, I came very near to taking the lives of three Warwick Academy students, on two occasions. I was driving my family to town this morning, shortly after 8 a.m., minding my own business, when a young white boy, carrying a pillion passenger, exited the gas station by Heron Bay Marketplace. He showed no obvious concern for the fact that there was traffic on the road, and in his apparent haste to be held up by the car in front of me all the way to Warwick Academy, passed my car on the inside. If I was not a professionally-trained driver, he and his passenger might have been dead, smashed into a wall.

This young man was driving an orange Suzuki or Yamaha 50cc. For further detail, the right-side indicator was broken, the left-side indicator was falling off, and the brake lights, when the young man actually thought to apply brakes, were out as well. I would like his parents and his passenger’s parents to know that their sons are alive today, only by the grace of God, and I would strongly recommend that they take away their son’s bike until he has had some practical training and evidences some maturity and social responsibility.

The second instance occurred with a third student who appeared to be travelling with the first boy, a young black boy, who followed out of the gas station after them, cutting off the car behind me, but at least for the moment falling in behind me. He also tried to pass me, presumably to catch up with his friends, on the inside, and was very nearly made into a wall ornament on the section of narrow road by Spicelands, until I sounded my horn in alarm and he reluctantly backed off. I unfortunately do not have his bike description to pass on to his most fortunate parents.

I mention the skin colours of both drivers intentionally, because I want people to understand that no one ethnicity is being targeted here. I could go on for pages with other instances I have observed on the roads. This apparent idiocy that permeates the minds of the road users, in cars or on bikes, is not selective of any one ethnicity, age, or gender. We, as a community, need to smarten up and lose our immortality complex. Haven’t enough people died on our roads to get the message home? When does it stop? How many deaths are enough to get the point to sink in? Slow down and smarten up Bermuda! Your lives are at stake!

Finally, I want to ask the two young drivers a question: What was the emergency? What gives you the right to jeopardise my child’s, my wife’s, and my own safety and what gives you the right to endanger the lives of your passenger, bystanders, other vehicle operators and yourselves? Do you have any concept of the risks you are taking and the responsibility you are undertaking when you get on your bike? How much longer are you going to tempt fate before you get seriously hurt or your actions seriously hurt someone else? Grow up and start thinking about the consequences of your actions.

Please let me paint a very vivid picture for you. Had you been killed today, I would have been outwardly respectful and remorseful to your parents for their tragic loss so as not to diminish their mourning, and I might have even shed a tear or two, but at my core, I would have been thinking this as I laid a flower on your casket: “You unfortunate dear parents of the deceased. Your son may have been the most wonderful boy to your eyes, may even have been sweet, loving, caring and kind, and his loss is a tragedy to your family that no family should ever have to bear, but know this — he is dead now for one reason and one reason only — Your son is dead today because he was stupid!”

TOM PANCHAUD

Southampton

The right question to ask

May 7, 2007

Dear Sir,

The Bermuda Public School review struck a nerve for several reasons. Let me start by saying that I have been a very committed member of the Bermuda public education system. While I agree with many of the findings and recommendations of the review, I will be remiss if I didn’t articulate that maybe now public education will get the attention that it really needs. Blame is hindsight and there is enough to go around starting with the United Bermuda Party who implemented this system under the guise of social equality. As far as I see it’s created a bigger disparity. Quite frankly the UBP should be quiet at this time!

I applaud the Review’s candid remarks about the Ministry of Education, where I believe the most blame should rest. Not only are they “secretive” and “paternalistic”, they operate in isolation and are so out of touch with the realities that public school teachers deal with on a daily basis. I can honestly say they work in a very disjointed manner and teachers and principals alike are not tied to a common vision which should emanate from them.

The restructuring of public education should be a concern for all stakeholders on this wonderful Island. Failure to act and remedy the situation will have dire consequences for all. The public needs to be educated on why a teacher would have to resort to a cut and paste lesson (as mentioned in the review). While I don’t assume to know all the details surrounding that particular lesson, I do know in my capacity as a teacher I teach children who are at a Primary 2 level ( I teach upper school students.) We are forced to meet students at their ability level. What some may deem a lowering of expectations, may be a simple case of meeting a child where they are!

The public also needs to understand that one cannot compare students in private schools with students in public schools. That’s like comparing apples with oranges. There are so many different variables. Public schools have to accept any and all students. That pretty much makes my point! I ask the question, should only students who attend private schools receive quality education? Take a poll of the majority of our education officials/principals/teachers who have their children in private schools. Ask the question “why” if our public schools are good enough for some of the children on this island. Actions speaks louder than words and I would be the first to support free choice, but just tell the truth.

Principals and Ministry officials need to hold teachers accountable for curriculum and instruction in their schools. Parents also need to step up to the plate. Many of our students lack parental support and a large amount of teachers’ time is taken up with dealing with discipline. I can talk for hours about why we received an F grade in the Review, but instead I am going to ask, “what now?”

EDUCATOR

Devonshire

How to stem the decline

The Rise and Fall of Education in Bermuda, Part 1

People are ever comparing the educational system of today with that of yesterday. But yesterday was the golden age of education. The peculiar system of segregation dictated that the black Bermudian aspire to a limited number of professions, chief among those was “teaching”. There were some black families who had the means to send their children overseas to school to achieve medical and legal qualifications. However the majority of blacks could not do so and thus the teaching profession was a legitimate avenue to gain prestige in a society which limited one’s aspirations. And the Government of the day assisted by offering scholarships to those wishing to enter this profession.

In this way, the teaching profession gained the finest brains that the country could produce. Many of these teachers could have excelled in most professions, but circumstances dictated that they become “teachers”. If one were to examine the black leaders of yesterday, one would find that many of them were once in the teaching profession-men such as Dr. Kenneth Robinson, Arnold Francis, Dr. Eva Hodgson, Arthur Hodgson, Sir Edward Richards, Austin Thomas, Frederick Wade, William Francis, Arliss Francis, Jimmy Brock, Sinclair Richards—. the list goes on and on. Bermudian students profited in those days by being tutored by the best black brains that the country could produce and they excelled. This was the Golden Age of Education in Bermuda. And then came desegregation.

The opening up of the Bermudian society to black citizens produced an impact on the education system which is being felt today. No longer need the best and brightest aspire only to medicine, law and education, but the total spectrum of occupations now became available. No longer need the best and brightest only aspire to become teachers, and so the profession suffered for their absence. In the early days of desegregation, the rules and regulations governing the selection of teachers were fairly stringent. The transcripts were scrutinised with great care and if the candidate had results which were mediocre, he or she was rejected. There were even some overseas Colleges which were rejected as they were considered to be “not up to standard”. In fact, financial assistance was given only to those who were to enrol in institutions which were on an approved list. And this to try and maintain teacher standards.

And then came a change in the Union focus. In the early days , the BUT was the instigator of educational changes. They were focused on the children. However, the salary of teachers was always low and raising the salaries eventually became almost the raison d’etre for the Union’s existence.

Part 2 Chaos and how to stem the decline

As the quality of the teachers slowly declined, so did the quality of the students attending the public schools. Teachers began sending their children to private schools and parents, opted to follow them. Union agitation for higher salaries impacted on the classroom environment and teachers became more militant and less concerned with the education of their charges. These three constructs of a declining quality of teacher, a declining attendance by most middle class children in the public system and a rising militancy by the teachers all coalesced to create educational chaos. In addition, the Ministry of Education embarked on a course of promoting teachers without the normal experience to management positions. The old tried and true method was to promote the best teachers to principalships and the successful principals to the Department of Education. It soon became evident that in order to be promoted one had to “know somebody”.

There is no doubt that children bring to the classroom environment their own innate ability, roughly called IQ or nature and their home environment, or loosely termed, nurture. Many years ago the debate raged about which is the more important, nature or nurture. There are then, three aspects of education which must be considered in stemming the rapid decline in education; the innate ability of the child; what experiences he brings with him to the classroom and what level of expertise the teacher can offer. To be continued ...

GATOR’S SON

Devonshire