The Government must meaningfully consult the public before forming any Education Authority, as it is critical that Bermuda reconsiders how education is governed, a charity leader has insisted.

Becky Ausenda, the founder of the Bermuda Education Network, said she was deeply opposed to the reappointment of Diallo Rabain as the Minister of Education, saying he had “unequivocally failed schools”.

Mr Rabain, who was sworn in on Friday as part of a shock Cabinet reshuffle, said one of his first tasks would be to deal with the legislation required to create the authority.

However, Ms Ausenda said feedback should be sought on its purpose, its powers and how it will be held accountable, and that power should not be centralised.

A spokeswoman for the Ministry of Education has insisted that the Education Authority “is not about centralising power” and said children would not benefit from another review.

Ms Ausenda, who has detailed her concerns in an op-ed in today’s edition of The Royal Gazette, said: “We should also be willing to examine whether greater school autonomy, including charter-style legislation, could create stronger local leadership and insulate schools from the changing political tides.

“The objective should not be an Education Authority which further centralises power and decision making. It should be creating a climate where school leaders have the authority and support to solve problems, teachers feel heard and parents are respected as partners.”

Charter schools, or academies as they are called in Britain, are publicly funded and have boards of trustees sometimes with private backing.

Ms Ausenda said she would be supportive of an authority that stood as an independent governing body for education.

David Burt said on the reappointment of Mr Rabain that the work ahead starts with delivering the long-promised legislation, school boards and operations decentralised from the Ministry of Education.

Ben Smith, the shadow education minister, reiterated his belief last week that an authority should be independent in order to remove politics from education.

The ministry spokeswoman said: “The Government is committed to delivering an Education Authority that is clearly understood, operationally independent, publicly accountable and focused on improving outcomes for Bermuda’s students.

“This is not about centralising power. It is about moving decision-making closer to schools, establishing school boards, strengthening school-level governance, and giving parents, educators, communities and relevant expertise a greater role in how schools are supported and held accountable.

“This work has not appeared overnight. It follows thousands of hours of consultation, policy development, research and engagement across the education system. Further engagement will take place as the legislation advances, but Bermuda’s children are not served by another open-ended review or reset.

“Minister Rabain has returned to Education because this work is at a critical implementation stage and requires institutional knowledge, legislative focus and urgency.

“He worked with the Education Authority Working Group, understands the work that has brought the policy to this point, and is fully aware of its purpose and ethos.”

In March 2022, Mr Rabain said the authority would operate “at arm’s length from government”.

However, he added: “But it will have to be funded by the Government based on how much needs to be spent on education moving forward.”

Learning First, which had been formed to collaboratively design an improved school system and later transitioned into the Education Reform Unit, has long held the position that an Education Authority was needed to “take the politics out of education and make public education more nimble and responsive”.

It said the authority would be responsible for public education in Bermuda and hold a “dual focus of equity and accountability”, and be responsible for “enabling and supporting all schools to achieve the best possible outcomes for our students”.

In March 2023 during a House of Assembly sitting, Mr Rabain moved to clarify the roles of various entities involved in education reform.

He said then that the authority would be “a government-funded authority that will take charge of performance and accountability in the education system”.

He said it would “control the direction and development of education in Bermuda”.

Ms Ausenda told the Gazette she believed Mr Rabain’s reappointment “defies belief”.

“It is the hallmark of a political administration that has shown itself unequal to the task of leading our public schools,” she said.

She said the Government should establish a cross-party working group to review the education reform programme and identify what has worked, what has not and what needs to change.

The Bermuda Union of Teachers has said it is working on a statement in reaction to the reappointment.

The Premier told the ceremony last week: “Education remains one of the most important commitments this Government has made, and the work ahead includes advancing the long-promised Education Authority legislation, which has been the subject of thousands of hours of consultation over many years with a wide array of stakeholders.

“This government has promised that we will deliver school boards, promised greater parental and community involvement and promised to decentralise authority from the Ministry of Education so our schools are better supported and more responsive.”

Asked why he reappointed Mr Rabain to the position, Mr Burt responded: “Education is a very complex brief and he is not a minister that needs to be ‘learnt up’.

“All the preparatory work on matters related to the Education Authority and education transformation, he knows it, he understands it, and if you were to move in another minister at that point in time, they would have to get learnt up.”