Dr Gibbons: Education Information Is Inadequate
The “selective and limited information” released by Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith “raises questions about what is being withheld,” Shadow Education Minister Dr. Grant Gibbons said.
Dr Gibbons said: “The information Education Minister Dame Jennifer released on high school graduation rates and examination results is inadequate.
“Based on this limited and selective data, it is impossible to properly assess the academic progress schools and students should be making as part of education reform.
“Parents and taxpayers who are supporting the public education system with their hard-earned dollars must have reliable and consistent information about educational performance.
“Given the critical importance of education to our students’ and Bermuda’s future, the community has a right to know what is going on. Yet this Government and the eight education ministers since 1998 have consistently failed to release consistent and reliable data.
“This is why an OBA Government will move with urgency to implement an Independent Standards Board – the education equivalent of the Auditor General – to provide independent and objective reports on school performance, graduation rates and external exam results to parents and the public.
“In March 2010, the Ministry pledged in its Blueprint for Education Reform to ‘facilitate the improvement of standards via accountability and transparency.’ Specifically, they promised to ‘Publish annually school performance data to all stakeholders.’
Dr Gibbons continued: “The Government has not kept this promise. In fact, the Minister’s report on exam results was only 4 pages this year compared to the 16-page report released last year.
“This selective and limited information raises questions about what is being withheld. The blatant lack of transparency does nothing to restore confidence in our public education system.
“The dramatic decline in GCSE results suggests that education reform under this Government is simply not progressing. In 2011, 54 percent of students sitting the exams received a grade of C or higher. This year, just 28 percent did. It should be improving, not getting worse.
“These overall results raise serious questions about whether our BSC-based graduation standards are meaningful. The OBA believes it is past time to have a serious discussion about implementing an internationally recognized national education standard for graduation.
“We need to raise the bar, not lower it, to ensure that Bermuda’s students will be properly prepared for either college or the Bermudian job market that awaits them after graduation,” Dr Gibbons concluded.
I agree: statistical reporting should not be under the control of the MoE. The temptation to fiddle the numbers is apparently too great for them to resist.
The PLP failing to fulfill promises and hype, whilst us and our children suffer, powerless except for our vote.
Even with the selective data that has been released one can assess that the results are abysmal.
Why Dr. Gibbons, how sincere are you about our childrens education,? have you even utilized the public school system..?!!!We don’t need lots of words to explain an obvious situation..Our children need opportunity, we learn from the womb to the grave, so institutionalized learning is only a small percentage of how we actually learn in life..Chill out an stay in my shadow!If you are really concern concentration would be on making it more viable for them to go fromhighschool to the boardroom! it is not necessary for our children to be in school from five to eighteen, which is thirteen years! and not be equiped to run their country and lives! structured education is limiting although necessary.
Highschool to the boardroom?! How are they supposed to do that when 10% of them achieve a passing grade in maths?!?!
Dont get me wrong, I dont just blame this govt. It has taken 25-30 years for our public education system to get this bad, all while the private schools have thrived and produced students with the necessary tools to go from ‘high school to the boardroom’.
Our lack of public school education has been contributing to the socio-economic problems that we are seeing now
how many times have we had changes in the Minister for Education, how many times have we had consultants, how many times have they changed the curriculum, which some teachers don’t bother to modify for the learning disabled or impaired in their classes – how do the statistics read for these students of course it doesn’t because all students are reported together. How can you have a functional skills class that isn’t seen as part of a school and the children in these classes are not included in regular classes because of their learning situation. Back in the day, teachers would modify the curriculum or MOED would include a modified curriculum. I thankt he Lord for the teachers my son and grandson had when attending pre-school to high school – they are both doing very well and I am proud of them and to teachers who take the time for those who are not learning impaired and those who are – Thank you for taking the time to encourage, understand, have compassion and passion to enable these students to be the best that they can be and not to give up on them because of their situations.
Only in Bermuda would someone expect to be able to go from high school to the boardroom.
The public education system is substandard but, rather than raising it, some people would rather see the bar lowered.
Amazingly, years ago, graduation was at 16 years old, then we went straight to College overseas with GCE’s, RSA’s, O-levels etc.. Then, remember the education system was restructured to keep the students until they were 18 yeas old to graduate “more students being more equipped, matured, educated and ready for College”?! Has that been achieved 20 – 30 years later?
Dr. Gibbons
Your credibility will be enhanced if you give an on camera interview to clarify the existence of the UBP 2007 election report. You remain a key figure as teh report was addressed to you and you are one of the former UBP stalwarts.
So you think our education system, the delayed and terrible results are acceptible, because you completely ignored the article!!!!!
You are willing to question his credibility on this issue, but not the credibility of the MoE who refuses to relase the full results? I agree with Blurt.
@ verbal kint
Agree with Dr. Gibbons if you choose. I think I am very clear. No one can accept the legitimacy of his claim of concern for public education if he is part of a plan to attract swing voters (that are statistically black in Bermuda) through deception and contempt? How genuine can he be if he demonstrates disdain for a significant portion of Bermuda’s population.
I am not accusing him of participation but given that the document was addressed to him and his actions appear to confirm the content and recommendations of the report, I am looking for an on-camera denial from him that he has participated in such deception and contempt.
We can debate the status of public education once Gibbons clarifies his position. As a starting point, several of our prominent Bermudians are products of Bermudas public education system.
It was a fake dufus! Catch up…Yestedays news.
Ps if someoneI asks you to write a report and in that report they say x,y and z, and say they address it to me and include things that I don’t agree with, because it is an opinion that I disagree with, does that have anyhing to do with my views? If then someone fakes a report with vile comments, irrelevent addresses and timings, when the alleged producer of the report denies and begins legal proceedings, does this mean I wrote it….of course it does not. So why do you continue to bang on about it . Ps I am not Mr Gibbons or a politician, I just want what is Best fir Bermuda and Bermudians.
@ Blurt
You become accountable when you act on the advice!!
PS – todays news – Cannonier forgets where he is when asked about the report, throws a temper tantrum and walks out of press conference.
PSPS – we will see if there are any further denials.
You didn’t answer my question, but I have come to expect obfuscation. I’m not agreeing with Dr. Gibbons on anything other than to call on the MoE to be accountable. The one thing has no relevance to the other. As to your last statement, that will always be true. The system is not failing everyone, just most everyone. The result is not good enough, especially in a place this small.
The credibility of this “secret” report would be greatly enhanced if it had been posted at http://www.plp.bm.
Alaska Hall seems to know an awful lot about it (see PLP FB page), and die hard supporters are straining themselves to convince the electorate that this is a key issue upon which to base our decision on the future of this country. Yet they don’t have the fortitude to host and post it on their own site? Or at least have someone in a custom made camouflage jacket thump the podium and wave it around a bit, demanding answers?
I’ve no doubt there was some sort of report. A pound to a penny says that what has been anonymously posted on the web is a doctored version, at best. I’ve no doubt that the doctored part is EXACTLY what the ruling party faithful are trying to make this election all about.
Our country is a crossroads.
There are clear and present dangers.
Stop foisting this irrelevant f*ckery upon on the community and address the myriad serious issues facing us.
VFM,
You express no outrage at all, in fact no concern at all, about the terrible education our kids are receiving. Yet you find a lot of energy to keep talking about the forged report.
You’re fine with the fact that our kids are leaving school with substandard education, as far as I can tell.
@ Blurt
Education is critical to Bermuda’s success. The challenge is that Gibbons can not be taken as a legitimate voice of concern or criticism if the contents of the UBP debrief are true. He can not on the one hand make public statements about the state of education and be silent on whether he knew about or acted on the contents of the report, which essentially characterises black voters not worthy of fundamental respect.
How dare you, ignore the reason of the article. You ignore the article , you ignore our children, you are the problem, being focused on the wrong thing. A typical PLP henchman folks. I want the best for our people, the best for Our Bermuda and the best for our children. This article is about our childrens future!!! And you just dismissed that! How dare you dismiss our childrens future. Bermudians have a right to a good education…Public Education is costing us a fortune and what us being dished up is scraps…i am incredibly proud of those who rise up through the education system and make something of themselves given the odds of failure they currently face. This government has had 14 years to turn a lemon into lemonade, but all they have done is suck the juice out and pretend the peel is what it is all about. Our kids deserve better. I think our kids deserve better, don’t you. If you don’t then shame on you.
@ blurt
a little comfort for you.
My committment to public education is as real as my children – they are in public school.
The so-called secret report is bogus… so how could it “characterise black voters (as being) not worthy of fundamental respect?” The report was a plp PLANT, part of their on-going OBA/UBP smear campaign. The plp have nothing to brag about themselves, so they must smear the Opposition, and attempt to link them to the defunct UBP, just to get elected. Nice.
On the other hand, disrespect IS pretty much the plp’s M.O.
The plp really have no respect for their grass roots blue collar supporters, amongst others. Because these guys are the ones who have suffered the most, and will suffer even more, way more, under misguided plp policy. And it appears they don’t even realize that fact.
@ street wise
Barritt admits the report existed. Crockwell admits a report existed.
We can dismiss admissions by Swan, Furbert and Tucker as sour grapes.
Take your pick on who you choose to believe.
Doesn’t matter… it’s still part of the continuing smear campaign against the OBA to divert our attention away from the plp’s dismal 14 year record. They got nothing but to smear the Opposition. Nice.
And you don’t deny that the plp treats their core blue collar supporters in a less than a respectful manner… in fact, the plp actually takes them for granted, assuming they’ll all vote for them… and that, unfortunately, these folks will suffer the most if the plp is re-elected.
It still amazes me that people will vote against their own well-being.
The Education Minister was a former educator who, when she was Premier went through 3 red pens a day correcting Cabinet Papers, reports, memoranda etc from all and sundry in order to “get things correct”.
How she can sink to this level of falshood is mind boggling, but I guess it’s desperate times for the PLP.
Shame on you…..
The problem I have here is that the Minister thinks that a C and D is acceptable. Just to take Math as an example:
Warwick Academy: 100% pass Rate of 114 students all with a B or better
Public: 74% pass Rate of 299 students 8% of those passing or 24 had a C or better.
What else is ther to say except our public school system has a long way to go!!!
Smoke and mirrors! The hand is quicker than the eye! Its all magic! (wish they could make the missing money appear!). Razzle Dazzle ‘em!
The GCSE results are finally provided. At the same time a poor forgery comes to light! What do the PLP want us to focus on? The forgery, of course. Oh sorry! It’s a forged copy of a 5 year old document outlining a possible strategy, which, for my money, was actually followed by the PLP. Destroy the education system, spend all the money, mess up the health care system, make it too expensive to live, get rid of all the folks with money, and black folks will still vote for you. They don’t care as long as you claim to be “standing strong” for them.
The fact that 72% of our most recent graduates have not achieved grades high enough to attend any accredited college or university, much less move “from high school to the boardroom” (got to be JOKING!! who makes this stuff up? Most of us have to work hard to move from post grad to the board room) is of NO importance. The fact that these graduates with few skills will be the ones looking after us in our old age, will be the ones, God forbid, governing us in a few years, isn’t in any way as important as whether a defunct party recognized that business as usual wasn’t working. Wish this party would recognize the same. But sadly, it appears that no matter how broken things appear to the rest of us, there are some who will always, and no matter what, vote their color.