Ministry Statement: Reports of Education Cuts
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education Warren Jones issued a press statement today about the reports about job cuts within the Ministry of Education. It follows in full below:
As the Permanent Secretary for Education, I must correct the erroneous impression given by some news stories suggesting that there will be a void in schools in the next school year (September 2011).
This is alarmist and totally in contradiction to the Ministry’s stated commitment to put teaching and learning first.
In all cases, both schools and the Ministry are moving forward with student needs clearly at the forefront of our decisions.
In accordance with the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Department of Education and the Bermuda Union of Teachers, all persons whose employment status will change in the next school year must have been notified by June 1st.
This was done and there have been no further ‘cuts’ since that date.
As previously stated, persons affected included paraeducators on one year contracts and persons who are unqualified and unregistered with the Bermuda Educators Council.
To be clear, persons who do not meet the legal requirements to be in our classrooms and who do not have an exemption are being released. I would expect everyone to agree that those who teach our children must be qualified.
I also want to inform you of an issue which only became apparent after June 1st. I discovered that a group of four (4) Bermudian teachers for some reason were hired on a one year contract, although they were both qualified and certified, upon learning of this issue, I gave instructions that these persons should be given letters of appointment as should have been the case at the start of their employment.
These persons will continue to be employed in September.
Finally, Aided Schools are responsible for their budget allocations. Principals of such schools, in conjunction with their Boards, made their own decisions on how best to proceed and they communicated said decisions to their staff.
Where necessary, the Department of Education will work with them to reassign qualified teachers to any vacancies in the system.
To put teaching and learning first hmmmm am I missing something here ? Cut necessary staff and then go to the media with a lot of blah,blah,blah. How about cutting GP cars to only use when necessary, resell the Ministers car back to her and use the money to keep the people who were let go, so they can be there to help to students who need it most. Thats just for starts……we have this all wrong. How about laying off some of the polititions, 40 seats in a 22sq mile country hmmmm.
The Dame could not get ir right when she was Premier….how the hell she was appointed the minister of education is beyond me….and else for Warren Jones he should be the first one to be made redundant.
This year the Bermuda public will have the Opportunity to make the PLP redundant. If you blow it, then shut-up and live with it.
How does a Minister with an Associates Degree in Art tell teachers that they are not qualified? What irony. So who hired unqualified teachers? Who must be held accountable for this? Time for this government to go.
Damned if you do, damned if you don’t. What is it that we want? We want the best people in politics, yet we want them to cut thier salaries…. We want more teachers, but not more taxes. Its the never-ending cycle of complaints.
As we can see the number is teachers is not directly proportional to the performance in schools, anyone can see that (associates in art or not). Its rasing the standards and level of teaching, not throwing more money after the problem!
Well said Preto Plato!! I wonderful if the approach to “special education” has cost us a great deal and put a great financial burden on Education ? The “Inclusion Model” of special education is very costly, requiring almost each child to have a para-educator. I wonder if government could have re-visit how services to special students could have been delivered in a more cost effective way? There are other models of educating and meeting the needs of special needs children, at a much lesser cost. You are correct, that student vs teacher ratio does not increase student performance. For example in London, the average class size has 25 to 30 students per class, often children with special needs are included with no para-educator. (But of course their level of special needs is also assessed). I think a review of how services is delivered to special and regular students more money can be saved or re-diverted.
Warren Jones…..one of the last men standing…….
Warren, so that’s alright then
Last year the Cambridge curriculum was introduced as the be all and end all for the public education system. Millions was spent on it and NOW!!!!!!!!!!!!! There’s a mass firing of teachers so what happens to that curriculum now and for crying out loud WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR CHILDREN????????? As for the licencing of the BEC that’s a big joke. A bunch of EXCELLENT teachers were not “licenced” by the BEC but because this government needs a desperate way to “recoup money” from the past few years of partying, heads will roll by any means necessary. WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR CHILDREN????? How about they do a roll call of ALL govt ministers and publicly publish their credentials in the paper so we can see what they’re qualified for so the public can ax them. Should we start with those ministers who can’t yet even produce a high school certificate. I’m just totally disgusted!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Would you support an increase in politicians salaries so that you can attract the “best and brighest”?
And try not to be too sensational “Mass firing”. As i said above, if there is anything that we’ve learned, the amount of teachers is not directly related to the results in school.
What we would all like to see is a weeding out of incompetence, both in teachers and at the Min Ed. That means: keep the best ones, get rid of the incompetents. Regardless of who is Bermudian and who isn’t. At this point the overriding issue should be to deliver the best education. All Warren Jones seems to be concerned about is whether a few Bermudians kept their jobs or not in among all the cutbacks. His whole statement is deliberately unclear.
I agree!!!
Sorry, but you are a typical example of a person that hears things and just runs with it. The Cambridge curriculum is still in place, it’s not going anywhere and there are enough qualified teachers to teach the content. Mass firing of teachers? seriously? not even gonna touch that one! a bunch of excellent teachers were fired (totally untrue)…but anyway, if they are so excellent why didn’t they take the necessary steps to be licensed? it’s really not all that hard.
Long story short, stop panicking..take some responsibility for your own child’s learning and have some faith in the qualified teachers that are still equipped to do their jobs, and do them well.
Well Nikki,
Who hired all these incompetent people that weren’t really needed? And why? Who is it, exactly, that has been running around hiring unqualified and unnnecessary people, and putting them in classrooms?
Heller! For real!!!!!
He dosen’t care cause he has the power to do it his way and the union is right beside him smilin because they’re not going to fight for anyone because they know there no fight in the union to help the teachers. I bet if you drive into hamilton they will be hangin out together smiling that they did it again. People get on your bb if you see them together (meaning the MOED and the BUT walking down the street hand and hand as the people they get rid of and the children they leave behind get lost.
This PLP mob could not run a bath never mind a country. they are inept
I want to know why they did not start firing people in the bloated Ministry of Educaton? That is what the Hopkins Report suggested years ago! Why get rid of the teachers and special needs assistants when there is over-employment in the MoE? Does not make sense to me?
Tell me how they would cut cost by making teachers redundant, but keep paying for security officers to check schools when the schools are closed! Which is more important?
Inept Ministers and senior civil servants are responsible for this fiasco, what with hiring their unqualified friends, family members, and yes, members of their churches!! Previous Ministers failed to deal with this matter, which
largely contributed to the bloated top heavy Ministry.
Dame Jennifer now has the unpleasant task of righting these wrongs. She is correct to ensure teachers have the proper credentials, however, it is equally important that the administrators (Finance and HR) have them also. Warren Jones should sort them out as well.
i wonder if the general public know that a part of the teaching certification process is to actually teach in the school system? there are many teachers who were on route to being certified who now cant because in many cases you only have two years to complete your placement programme. Basically they will now have to work for free in order to not waste their time and money that has already been invested.
it is amazing to me that the MOEd believes that the issues with our education are due to ‘unqualified’ teachers and not ‘unqualified parents’ or complacent students.(i am talking about high school students not primary or middle btw) Why would you get rid of an uncertified high school teacher with a masters degree in the field when university professors are not qualified teachers either? and we pay huge sums of money to send our children to them. Instead you replace them with a person who has a Bachelors in education, a teaching certification who actually cant explain (and in some cases doesn’t even understand) upper level physics,chemistry or math, but they sure do know how to make a lesson plan! Nice job MOEd.
The problem is not the quality of instruction but the urgency to learn, but lets not open that can of worms. (the stats on the acceptance:drop out rates in universities due to academic incompetence of public school graduates will blow your mind.)
Secondly, what are the statistics in regards to success rates in the classrooms of qualified versus unqualified teachers. For many teachers becoming qualified meant taking a year off from working, or working for 14 weeks for free, as an adult with children and or responsibilities that would be difficult/impossible. yes, now there are distance programmes available but for those reprimanding older teachers without the PGCE please keep that in mind.
Thank you Neyo!!!!
Neyo …that is the best post yet !
Neyo!!! Spot On, Bernews, please have a headliner reprinting Neyo’s post as a guest column. I’d rather have teachers that are incompetent leave….they get performance appraisals right!!! they should get input from parents and students on the performance to. Make the UNDERPERFORMERS go!!!!!
Yeahhh, OK- I do feel for the ones who were actively pursuing their certifications and just missed by a hair. Who I have Z E R O sympathy for are the ones who were uncertified for YEARS, and had the arrogance to assume that because they were Bermudian, they were entitled to stay within the system regardless of how long they were taking. Making excuses for their own laziness and procrastination. So why should we want those ‘teachers’ to stay? Would you want your child being taught by someone who didn’t take his or her own training seriously? Would you want someone who was that arrogant and complacent teaching your son or daughter? I wouldn’t. What I want to know is how are TEACHERS evaluated? I want to know. I want to know that my child is in good hands.
Neyo- you’re right. Way too many ‘unqualified’ parents, and way too many disaffected, disinterested and unmotivated students. Our collective work ethic has gone the way of the dodo, and it’s all coming home to roost. But consider this- when a P2 teacher can say to a student, ‘You piss me off’, and a P3 student can get away with skipping class, you have to wonder what’s going on. When a middle school teacher wears a belly-baring shirt, when the teachers are dressing to look sexy instead of professional, and then react in horror when our kids are dressing and behaving inappropriately, you have to take a step back and think on how we got here. When you walk through town near the bus terminal after school hours, and groups of students are swearing like a bunch of sailors with every other word is f**k (from the boys AND girls alike!!), who let them get this way? And God forbid you should be the one to say something, because they’ll mouth back at you, and even threaten you. Trust me, I’ve been there.
So, people…tell me what we’re supposed to do. Teachers have a hard job- but if you can’t be the role model they need, then get out. If you can’t be the disciplinarian they need, then get out. If you can’t be the nurturer they need, then get out. Teaching isn’t a job, it’s a calling, and if we don’t have enough local ‘talent’, then we need foreign teachers. We need something different. We need a clear and consistent message sent to parents that their behaviour is unacceptable. Shame isn’t used in the schools anymore. The only thing that’s important is ‘respact’. Respect the student by allowing them to underperform- heaven forbid they should be dissatisfied with their performance. Respect the teacher by allowing her to express her individuality by wearing tight clothes and high heels and talon nails, visible tattoos and odd piercings to the classroom. In my day, teachers were almost uniformed themselves, and the last thing they were was attractive. They were inspiring, and because you weren’t distracted by what they were wearing, you focused on them- what they were teaching and how they did it. You saw the person, not the adornments.
I digress- I do it all the time, I know. But we are in a collective mess, and until we stop blaming each other and start stepping up to our own responsibilities, then nothing will change. Parents need to take more than an interest in their child’s education, you need to know exactly what goes on, daily. How? Have dinner with your kids. Ask them what they did in school today, supervise their homework. And if something’s not on track in your mind, ask the teacher about it. Be a pest. Go to the Ministry offices if you have to- they have enough staff for your concerns to be heard. Go again. And again. Nothing changes unless it is the will of the people, and for years we have all accepted what Education has doled out, complaining passively but not being active.
Will we all continue to lay down and take it? Flood their offices, clog up their e-mails. But if we’re not interested, why would they be?
very very well said. so from that being said…how do we move forward to ensure that our children (special needs or not) get the best education possible from DEDICATED professionals and not-so-dedicated parents?
I agree with you that teachers who do not perform to certain standards should be ‘encouraged’ to seek employment elsewhere. I am glad that you have started the conversation on parental involvement and accountability. This has been my message in the schools since day one. Our education plights are due to a lack of accountability of the parent first, then the student and finally the teacher/ministry of education. Trust me there have been many qualified enthusiastic teachers who have taught in Bermuda then left because in order to teach in many Bermudian classrooms the ‘teacher’ has to be a babysitter and an exorcist.
On top of these two qualities the teacher then has to deal with being confronted by parents who are thoroughly convinced that their child is an absolute angel and that the grade that the student receives is due to a personal grudge between the student and teacher. Heaven forbid a teacher record the grade that accurately reflects a student’s performance and ability (not potential so many people get this confused) and when they do the instant response is blame the teacher, while the student hasn’t handed in a homework assignment since 2005.
Many people are asking for solutions and feel free to dissect mine.
1) Make parents pay for something, if an individual actually cannot afford to pay, then paperwork can be filled out and government can assist. The whole get something for nothing only further perpetuates the inherited sense of entitlement Bermudians possess.
2) Recoup funds by making the students pay for buses again (especially the non school buses). Again if an individual actually cannot afford to pay for the bus then paperwork should be filled out and government can assist. Free buses have done nothing positive, students are still late for school or don’t show up. If you want to see where all the money for bus fare has gone step onto a school bus in the morning, every student has a blackberry/ipod/iphone. How can we say that the free buses are for the disenfranchised when they all have more toys than I do and I have a job?
3) Web stream classes, no not for the sick lame or lazy at home, but so the parent can actively monitor their child AND the ministry can actively monitor their teachers. (these streams can be private) Without going into the sociology aspect self monitoring is a very powerful tool to maintain standards. I do recognize that if there is no money for teacher’s salaries then there will be no money for this to be implemented but it is just an idea for moving forward.
4) Make parents/students pay for failed courses. If a parent knows their child’s failure means they can’t get their nails done or put more money on their phone, I bet you that student would suddenly be sitting at the front and devouring every word leaving the teacher’s mouth or will be totally exhausted from all the licks they would get.
Ill be back on later.
Right ON, Neyo. LOVE the ‘no free buses’ part- then the little pottymouths would be forced to hang out near their homes (near their grannies? Near their aunties?) using that sort of language. LOL- can you see it now? There’d be a whole lotta whupass being opened!
Excellent post, and I totally agree. How about making the students pay for their books? I heard that students aren’t allowed to take books home because too often they are lost or damaged. Or at least a book deposit- you get your money back when you return the book in the same condition in which it was given. The fees should be nominal enough that almost anyone can afford yet substantial enough to make parents and students think twice about not living up to their end of the bargain.
In my day too, (he he, now I’m showing my age), you were graded separately on motivation and effort. So, if you tanked on something like Chemistry, but tried really genuinely hard, you had a chance at passing. That way, the message is sent that Chemistry may not be your aptitude, but you worked hard so that’s okay- you’ll find something that you are good at and so long as you try hard, it will come. That’s a much more positive message than an inflated grade or an outright failure. Don’t we employ such a system? I think that would preserve self-esteem yet give an accurate snapshot of how the student is doing.
Well, well said, Neyo. Glad to see we still have thinkers out there. I’ve seen so many young people come through the system where they think that just showing up to work means that they’re performing to expectation…really??? Seriously we have a LOT of work to do.
Great post!!!
@ Fed Up Bermudian: Excellent post. What you are really speaking to is one of our most striking weaknesses as an Island: Accountability. Ultimately, this is precisely the issue that Mr. Jones (a truly amazing, insightful and effective public servant) is speaking to.
Recent Ministers have left MOED in shambles, financially and administratively. MOED’s HR arm has been “the gang that can’t shoot straight” for many years now, and made hiring decisions based on cronyism, instead of actual qualifications. MOED’S HR team–current and recently retired hiring managers–should all tender their resignations for putting Bermuda in this situation. (Can you imagine bringing unqualified physicians, dentists, pharmacists, etc., to practice in Bermuda based on a “promise” to achieve proper qualifications over the next 2-3 years? Absolute “fullishness”!) Sloppy, inept, unorganized, inefficient, ineffective, and without a shred of accountability themselves, MOED’s HR team has not held this group of unqualified (albeit well intentioned) teachers/para’s accountable to honor their commitments.
As I see it, Dame Jennifer and Mr. Jones are now left to clean up the mess, and make no mistake, it will be sorted out.
When someone immensely qualified but not ‘popular’, ‘connected’, or well-liked applies for a job, as the spouse of a Bermudian no less- makes it through interview stage, and heard NOTHING for over a year from their HR department only to be told that there’s a hiring freeze, there’s a problem. That’s exactly what happened to someone I know- he applied for a position after having been unemployed after a wrongful dismissal, which he fought and won, which technically meant they couldn’t hold it against him, and lo and behold, it seems they did. He had every right to make it embarrassingly public, and he chose not to, because he’s a gentleman and a genuinely good man with the best interests of Bermuda’s students at heart. I’ll have faith in Dame Jennifer and Mr. Jones if they have the cojones to right that wrong, because frankly I am disgusted at the Ministry’s hiring practices. You’re absolutely right, Accountability. And get this- to my knowledge, this highly qualified gentleman never even got so much as an apology, and is still not working in his field of expertise. Shame. Dame, if you’re reading this, you might wish to check HR’s records, see what this guy has to offer, and hire him. NOW. He’s one of the only straight shooters I’d ever seen in the Ministry, not only does he deserve a job but the system needs him.
@ Fed Up Bermudian. How many stories of an inept and pathological HR team can we endure?
How about this one: Bermudian teaches in Bermuda’s public primary and middles schools for 4 years, takes a break to raise children, and then re-applies for a teaching role with MOED. Online application lost. Follow-up paper application lost. Multiple in-person visits to MOED HR office discounted. Later revealed,HR cannot find “record” of the teacher ever having taught in MOED’s system. Later, HR offers Master’s qualified teacher a 1st year paraeducator position. WT_ is going on there?
Mr. Jones, can you please take your sharpened pencil to HR next??
I wish I could say I was surprised. Mr. Jones, let’s hear from you on this. That’s equally disgusting to the one I noted, what is going on??? I wonder if the Ombudsman would take things like this up. Strictly speaking, these are matters of professional practice versus matters of management and HR. I think what I find most appalling with any such stories I hear is that no one in the Ministry cares enough to do anything about it, they keep the inept director on, when clearly that’s where the buck stops, and the higher-ups even KNOW that department is a total shambles. Undergirding the success of the system is the people who are hired, therefore I’d argue that the FIRST place that needs some serious house cleaning is HR!!!! THEN and ONLY THEN can you start cleaning elsewhere. This HR department can’t even dismiss someone wihtout screwing up, so that should tell the grand pooh-bahs over there something. Yet, it seems not to. Sigh, sigh, and sigh…
Definitely! When he completes that monumental task, he must travel to the Finance Department within his ministry and stop the scandalous practice of overpayments to teachers who are placed in the wrong categories (by HR). Next issue, teachers are often paid for being off the job for extended periods due to sickness, without having to produce proper documentation. Last but not least, large payments have been made to teachers due to the fact that there was a “misunderstanding” between that teacher and HR regarding the terms of employment.
I have one question!! How in the world people who do not have a teaching degree get jobs as teachers?!?!?!? My son (who attends one of the senior schools)told us one his teachers was away for several weeks so that he could get his teaching degree!! What kind of bull is this????
in order to get your teaching degree you have to teach, it is a part of the process.
secondly there is nothing wrong with a person teaching who doesn’t have a teaching degree, if you have a bachelors in a specific field your are more ‘qualified’ to teach the topic than a teacher with a bachelors in education, the certification is the BEC’s way of assuring quality.
think about this, if you wanted to learn how to fish would you ask a fisherman or a teacher? the teacher may know better strategies to help you learn but the depth of knowledge from the fisherman would be very useful. The determining factor in how well you fish is your commitment to fishing. Both are valid methods to learn mind you but we have to be able to distinguish between ‘certified’ and ‘qualified’. MOEd believes that certified teachers and quality teachers are synonymous, and have overlooked the interpersonal connection between teachers and students. Le sigh.
Thanks for the info. But this teacher has gone to get his Bachelors….oh well, what are we to do while the kids suffer!!