Photos & Video: “Sit-In” Over Education Grants
Shadow Minister of Education Lovitta Foggo was joined today [May 6] by Education Minister Dr. Grant Gibbons and crowds of people who attended the “Silent Sit-In” at the Cabinet Grounds today in protest over the cuts to education grants.
Ms. Foggo spoke first, and then Dr. Gibbons addressed the crowd, drawing jeers and boos when he said, ““One of the problems the current Government has is that they have been handed a real mess by the former Government who overspent.”
One attendee shouted out, “Have you looked under the hood yet?” — an apparent reference to Finance Minister Bob Richard’s phrase — to which the Minister replied: “I have.” The attendee then said, “How long will you look under the hood?”
Ms Foggo, Dr. Gibbons, Sen. Rabain and CedarBridge & Berkeley students speak:
Opposition Senator Diallo Rabain also spoke to those gathered, and expressed his concern about the cuts.
A number of students from both public senior schools were in attendance, and Destinee Taylor, Student Government President from CedarBridge Academy and Kaelah Hines from Berkeley Institute both conveyed the concerns of fellow students to the Minister and gathered crowd. The students stressed that they are the future of the island, and also submitted a petition for consideration.
Click to enlarge photos:
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With all due respect to all folks in politics – THE UBP, THE PLP & now the OBA…..The Department of Education needs to be abolished and completely rethought. Nalton Brangman certainly was backing a broken model, and as such you lost me on your defence of Dr. Heatley and indeed even thinking the DOE is relevant in the 21st century.
The new Minister is someone I have much respect for, but I surely hope that he and the rest of you realize that we simply have to change the way we run Public Education in Bermuda. 4 BILLION spent in the past 30 years to fund, run, prop up an Education model created in the INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION cannot work in the 21st century.
Perhaps you all could “educate” yourselves on what is going on in many places with regards to Education from Finland to the UK/USA and many other countries. The Blog we have created started initially when I was aghast at the shocking state of affairs of arts/music & sports in some of our schools. When I recalled how dreadful my experience was of SALTUS GRAMMAR school & WHITNEY from 1956 – 1962 and my parents wisely packed me off to the UK…..where I had a brilliant education, I dug a little deeper. There is no doubt in my mind that the one thing that needs changing in Bermuda is the Department of Education and the Public Schools……Too many folks warming seats, afraid of change. Politics, the Teachers union (protecting too many under qualified teachers) are all harming our kids and Bermuda’s future.
Ms. Foggo should be apologizing to the students for being part of the PLP Govt. that created a massive unsustainable public debt and completely mismanaged our economy for more than a decade.
The government needs to be apologing to the young people of Bermuda is how you need to revise your comment. Our young people are our most important resource. Why not invest in them now, rather than later when it is too late. Put the money at the front end, not later.
The issue here is the Education of our Young People. Any serious thinking person would ask, just how much is the government serious about further education of our young people in Bermuda.
I would like to see groups of people get together purely to get to know each other and enjoy each others company rather than always to “raise their concerns”.
Rich families shouldn’t get scholarships !!!!
But what if they are the best candidate for them? What if they EARN them? Are you saying the scholarship should go to someone who hasn’t earned it or who isn’t qualified for it?
Scholarships should be based on merit, appetite for education and application of self.
Young students have little to no wealth, so the OBA expansion of numbers of awards to a larger number of people is great.
While people confuse the two, there’s a difference between scholarships and bursaries. Scholarships are generally merit based (i.e., the “best” applicant receives them) while bursaries are generally needs based.
There is a place for both and the “good” student deserves to be rewarded as much as the needy one.
you should not get a scolarship but if you write the test fill out an application and are the best candidate what’s one to do…..
LOL
Well done Young People. Standing up and speaking on your futures. It is always great to see young people take action that will impact their future. It shows they care and are concern about the possibilities of their opportunities for higher education. Keep standing strong and pushing forward. At least you exercise your voice and that is very important. Well done !
It is hoped that a caring government will at least listen and Act upon your demands. If one looks at where the government is spending money this clearly suggest it comes down to PRIORITY OF the GOVERNMENT IN SPENDING. It is clear they do not see education of our young people as high PRIORITY. Education of our children seems to be a very low priority for this government. Look at the Ministry of Education.
There are sources of funds. Cut medical benefits for overweight Bermudians. That should redirect many millions of dollars that can be used for scholarships for the youth. A win/win – overweight people become more healthy and the youth receive their funding. Simple.
I actually like that! ALOT! And while we’re at it, smokers too! I’m sick of taking care of all you people all the while busting my butt at the gym and making my kids eat their vegetables. Great idea!
for the 20 or so people that hit the “dislike” button – - why don’t you jump on the old scale and see what it says. my guess is that you all might be a tad overweight. why else would you dislike a comment like this. #chubsters
Speaking of spending money Betty – you offered “to list whom is on the UBPoba Friends and family contracts by this government” Can you please do so in detail, including the exact amounts paid, frequency, length of contract and complete counter party names?
Please also provide at least five examples of sustainable, workable and realistic PLP suggestions to improve our economy for 2014.
8 dislikes regarding a request for accountability? Must be core PLP supporters riddled with blinders and earphones. Who else would willingly accept the abuse of public funds?
Perhaps the same supporters would clarify and commit to ensuring the financial resources available for our children’s education? If not, stop disagreeing with the community’s efforts to ensure success for our future generations.
Do not get caught up in the LiKES AND DISLIKE CLICKS. OBAUbp folks vote based only upon protection of party, DEFEND THE PARTY RIGHT OR WRONG. THEY DO NOT CLICK LIKE BASED UPON THE ISSUE…. THE BLINDFAITHFULNESS OF THE OBAUBP FOLLOWERS HAS BEEN THAT WAY FOR MORE THAN OVER 40 YEARS. CHANGE IS NOT EXPECTED OF THE OBAUBP MPs or FANS.
DENIAL OF CONTRACTS TO THE OBAUBP FAMILY AND FRIENDS IS ALSO SOMETHING YOU WILL NOT ADMIT. DENIAL WILL NEVER STOP WITHIN THE OBAubp!
So silence on what you were asked typical silence……….
LOL
silence
You keep misspelling PLP, “Bettty”…
8 dislikes? Really? Is this what happens when the PLP’s ‘facts’ and reality collide?
For all those dissenters please regale us with your factually supported positions. Otherwise stop abusing the dislike button for materially inaccurate statements.
We’ve had enough of the PLP’s fourteen years of fiction. There’s no reason to continue with the more of the same.
There is not money, we spend more than we earn thanks to the thanks to the party I formally supported and people like you continue to support no matter the outcome of the country. When will all understand we spend 75% of our money on government salaries and debt (PLP Caused) payments. WHERE IS THE MONEY DREAMER!!!!!!
So now its ok to use kids I recall when some kids stood up and voice concerns about things the PLP was doing and they where labled all sorts of things by the Betties and PLP supporters so which is it…
LOL PLP it only ok if they do it……LOLOLOLOL
Wow! Couldn’t some of the $1m allocated by tourism to sports and cultural events have been shared with Education? What are our priorities?
WATCH THIS BERMUDA !
SIR KEN ROBINSON
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4NgE88Gpfr0
“Education is the way in which we invest in our own future and the future of our children..It’s education that we depend upon to cultivate the sensibilities, the talents, the abilities, the outlook, the attitudes on which we all depend, both our children, ourselves, it is the way we pass on our traditions, our history, it is the way we engage in the the present and we prepare for the future”
Sir Ken Robinson is an internationally recognized leader in the development of education, creativity and innovation. He is also one of the world’s leading speakers with a profound impact on audiences everywhere. The videos of his famous 2006 and 2010 talks to the prestigious TED Conference have been seen by an estimated 200 million people in over 150 countries.
This is another excellent talk that summarizes Sir Ken’s vision on education reform and humanity as expressed in his older presentations. This is so enlightening and entertaining at the same time.
“The real shift is in changing metaphors. The industrial metaphor has dominated education since the middle of the 19th century. The industrial metaphor has given us the current system. I believe we need to shift to a different type of metaphor, to an organic metaphor. Culture is an organic term. Schools are not like mechanisms, they are like organisms, they are living breathing communities of people, who have reciprocal hopes dreams and possibilities. I have yet to find a kid that can’t be educated. I have yet to find a school that can’t be improved if the capacity of innovation is given to the schools, the principals and teachers that do the work.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TZfWqao6uA
Transforming Education – Will Richardson
“We can’t be creative if we refuse to be confused. Change always starts with confusion.”
– Margaret Wheatley
A parent of two teenagers, Will Richardson has spent the last dozen years developing an international reputation as a leading thinker and writer about the intersection of social online learning networks and education. He is an outspoken advocate for change in schools and classrooms in the context of the diverse new learning opportunities that the Web and other technologies now offer. Will has authored four books, most recently Why School? How Education Must Change When Learning and Information are Everywhere (September, 2012) published by TED books and based on his most recent TEDx talk in Melbourne, Australia. A former public school educator of 22 years, Will is a co-founder of Modern Learner Media which is dedicated to helping parents and policy makers develop new contexts for new conversations around education. He also co-founded Powerful Learning Practice, a unique professional development program that has mentored over 10,000 teachers around the world in the last six years.
“In times of change learners inherit the Earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists.”
don’t depend on government handouts….If you’re academically gifted, there are private scholarships available….if you’re average (as I was) then work your way through college if necessary (as I did)
A Democratic Government is supposed to offer opportunity to an EQUAL EDUCATION to all regardless of financial status. Should parents who can’t afford to send their kids through private school put their kids to work to do so? From the track record of who gets these scholarships it proves the education system here has it’s inequalities. On this island throughout the years it’s been whose academically privileged not gifted. It’s a heck of a lot easier to get straight As when you have all the assistance at your fingertips. Nothing to do with shades of skin & all to do with financial status because not only black kids go to public schools. Bermudians need to wake up & realize this is the real divide not race.
We need to get our public schools up to standard; make *them* the institution of choice. Eliminate affordability from being a factor of a child’s academic success.
Uh, no, equal education has nothing to do with democracy. It literaly means ‘rule of the people’. A democratic government allows all citizens to participate in the creation of laws.
More PLP propaganda.
Anything to create divide.
Again I ask like President John F. Kennedy said “ask not what your country can do for you but what you can do for your country”.
$800 MILLION gone during the PLP reign.
Look within.
JFK also said, “If a free society cannot help the many who are poor, it cannot save the few who are rich.” in this same speech you refer to. I’m quite sure the students didn’t take the $800 MIL or else they wouldn’t have to worry about education.
I am also the ‘future of the island’ having to get my first job in this economy. But I also realise that it was the PLP who put us here. Almost every project under their rule was over budget. I actually feel sorry for the OBA having to deal with people blaming them, Do you think the OBA enjoys cutting scholarships? Clearly, they’re doing it because there isn’t any more money! We ALL know who to blame for that!
Ok how about de Airport, National Stadium(especially de track which had to be replaced 3 times and when they tried to contact the contractor who put down de track it was a phantom), Incinerator, West Gate and now Jet Gate, LMFAO
Thank you – remind this person.
The National Centre track was installed under the auspices of the PLP Government. Perhaps you should ask them?
Regarding your other cited overages, which were equally distasteful, is it only ok when the “PLP do it”? How about the overages at Cedarbridge which on its own eclipse the aggregate of the airport and incinerator.
How about the $14 million performance bond that was never paid or the related $700,000 premium?
32n, looks like team Alaska hall is targeting you now!! Pretty sad bunch aren’t they???
They can target all they want. The facts aren’t on their side. If the PLP choose to ignore reality that’s their problem and proves yet again the electorate should never entrust the PLP with our collective best interests or well being.
Just how many kids could attend college for that $700,000 premium or the $14,000,000 performance bond? [And that's not counting interest or the cost of dragging that thru the courts.]
Steve Biko you are another dreamer, where is the money?? Due to the last government (PLP) we have to spend majority on debt payments!!!! Where do we get the money dreamer, and you still support foolishness, that is why I call you a dreamer.
Yeah they went over budget on these projects, but this did not put the country into debt at that time. The UBP at the end of each year were able to balance their books even with cost over runs on projects like West Gate, Cedar Bridge and the Incinerator to name a few.
The PLP’s cost over runs for their projects and their excessive spending put the country into debt. Eugene Cox was able to balance the books, however after him things went down hill. Nobody thought to save for bad times. Then again I believe Paula always said things were Okay.
And how about the vast majority of projects that were under budget or within budget? You don’t hear too much about that do you?
OBA gets blamed becuase they made cuts. Just like UBP/OBA blamed the PLP for cutting spending. That’s just reality.
0:50 onward – “What this means for many people who don’t ordinarily qualify for the Bermuda Government scholarship or private scholarships because perhaps academically they haven’t reached a certain level, it means that those who are in certain financial situations cannot afford to gain the schools that they think are necessary to be responsive to workforce demands.”
I’m sorry, but can someone please clarify this statement? What it sounds like Ms. Foggo is saying is that students who have struggled academically through high school should be entitled to receive government funding to further their education if they require financial assistance.
I fully understand and appreciate the concept of financial aid based scholarships to assist students through their post-secondary education; however, I would assume that an obvious requirement (past, present and future) would be for the student to have excelled academically or contributed positively to the community or their school in some way or another.
Maybe my way of thinking is wrong in this situation, but i’m just stating my opinion. Please correct me if I have misinterpreted this opening statement.
How dare you suggest that students should actually be qualified before they receive government money.
You must remember that what’s important is not equality of opportunity, but equality of outcome. It doesn’t matter how hard you do or don’t work and how effectively or not you apply yourself in life, we should all be entitled to the same success.
The OBA found no engine when they looked under the hood thus the problem.
Same reason you got booted from the Immigration Board, your engine sucks.
People…. there is no money to give hand outs FOR SCHOLARSHIPS !!! parents take responsibility for your own children,the former government under Cox,and Brown are to blame for THE SORRY STATE THIS iSLAND IS GOING THROUGH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
You’re right Rick, the engine got stolen and we all know by who.
$700,000 for our children is unsustainable. Got you. Remind me how we expect our people to compete with foreign talent if we do not invest in ourselves? What is clear is that some politicians simply do not believe in Bermuda and only say ‘One Bermuda’ when they think we want to hear that feel good music. SMH. Both party’s need to step up and make our youth priority number one.
Scholarship funding has beern reduced this budget by $241k snd not the blatant “if i repeat enough it will become true” $700k reduction being spewed.
Total scholarship funding is now at $1mn while the allocations have been altered across the various scholarships offered.
Govt Scholarships now will be lower, but will reach a greater number of people. That sounds good for Bermuda to me. More people having access to an opportunity.
Couple of things I noticed at this ” silent sit in? ” the small crowd was made up of close to 20 students and the rest adults?? The second thing is, they were all standing and NOT sitting also they were not silent when Min Gibbons was speaking?? I am starting to think this was just another disruptive protest of the OBA by the very plp that caused this mess!!! When will the plp stop creating chaos and finally be part of the solution??? Somehow the plp keeps forgetting that they went $ 3 million over their last education budget, why do they not mention that?? The time for politricks needs to stop now!! We are heavily in debt because of the plp’s incompetence and can no longer afford their socialist ways!!!
My wife and I can easily afford ( because of hard work ) to pay for our children’s higher education but we have made each of them take out student loans that THEY are responsible for!! The more you give to people the more they expect for free and that is something I will never give my children!!! Socialism does not work, it never has and it never will!!!
It is safe to assume the Alaska Hall ( plp ) team starts working at 6pm, I always love when I get them angry!!! This is directed at the Alaska Hall bloggers, Truth stings doesn’t it ????
well at least they arent doing it during working hours, and getting paid to hit that dislike button!
I think the former PLP members of parliament are worried about paying their bills…. they were used to being paid a lot of money and certain perks….and now thet are worried as to now have to continue their life style… so all they can do now is try and discredit all the good work the OBA are doing..J.S.how are you doing buddy ? and K.S. how you making out ?
When you all (nay sayers) sit back and think about what a Government Scholarship is.
Get back.
Really.
Unfortunately there is too much entitlement dressed up as politics. Scholarships are not a right. I am all for assisting those who need assistance to graduate with a degree that will benefit themselves and Bermuda. Unfortunately there are students who want a scholarship so they can attend a second rate college and graduate with a piece of paper that has no benefit to themselves.
Maybe all Government scholarships should be subject to repayment so that the money can be used to benefit the next recipient. A revolving cash pool. Bermuda has to be the only place that scholarships are expected to be given as opposed to student loans. The sad fact is that in 2014 the Bermuda Government is strapped for cash.
“Unfortunately there is too much entitlement dressed up as politics”
BINGO!!!! Welcome to reality.. if only those who feel entitled would see it the other way, but unfortunately after 14 years of the gravy train, those who are no longer sipping from it are those who feel even more entitled.
Who are the other 3 people that are working for the Premier and how much are they getting paid?
Can’t he fire 2 of them to assist with the scholarship funds for the children. Come on Grant, Dunkley and Bob I voted for the OBA and the party can do better then this. Even in my position I have only 1 secretary. I can’t imagine having 5 people working directly under me. If you continue to take the people for granted they will remove us. I remember 1998.
1)Don Grearson – $113,480
2)Charmaine Burgess – $105,765
3)?
4)?
5)?
I wonder how long the OBA will blame the PLP.
It can be seen how tired people of that lame line. We’re 17 months into the OBA’s tenure.
I mean when you have students protesting against you! And you want to blame someone else. Get it together OBA.
The PLP had 14 years and continued to blame the UBP. Work it out (without a scholarship).
I have worked it out, they are missing the money…
Funny how no one said the same thing when the police were protesting, or when Bermudians protested against the Uighurs…
But don’t call it hypocrisy… ohhhh no… that would be out of line.
Ask those same students how they feel about the PLP spending $4,000,000 on a concert which is now preventing them from accessing scholarship funding to pay for their higher education? Once you have the answer kindly report back your findings.
Let’s tell the students how many scholarships could have been funded with the $60m wasted on Grand Atlantic.
Governemnt should be moving away from grants (scholarships etc.) and more towards establishing interest free loans, which eventually become low interest loans some time after an individual graduates. This puts people in a position to succeed, but also requires them to follow through with their endeavours. It would also decrease the amount of money spent by government over the long term.
Where was the PLP protest against the $4,000,000 wasted on a Beyoncé vanity concert weekend? Or we’re they too busy dancing, wining and dining on the taxpayer’s dime to appreciate this one event could have instead sent fifty students to a decent college for four years!!
This manufactured disgust is disingenuous and completely hypocritical. Nothing but an attempt to fill the airwaves with hollow rhetoric. A cornerstone of the PLP’s political handbook.
PLP – betraying Bermudians since 1998, one unemployed and undereducated voter at a time.
@32nd, don’t forget the almost size Olympic swimming pool the plp built that now costs us over $100 grand a month to maintain and don’t get me going about Sands 360!!! If they are serious with their concerns about funding these students maybe they should be honest about those feats of incompetence and do I have to really have to mention the Grand Atlantic condo disaster??? The plp should just get the heck out of the way, in order to stop being a hindrance!!!! How many could be given scholarships ( not that I think anyone should be given anything for free) but a little honesty would be helpful right about now from them!!!?
Good point. I understand that that was for the people and they enjoyed it immensely.
I hope you all see, and i mean no offense when i say look at the complexion of those prostesting. Grant gibbons doesn’tcare about tthose who depend and rely on these govt scholarships.
Robert…stop race baiting!
More disgusting, racially biased drivel from the big, brave man, himself, “Robert”.
This sort of misinformation is not good for our country, “Robert”.
Do better.
Grant comes from great privilege, “old bermuda money” !!!!
Ya, never could have made it on his own. Dumb as a sock huh.
Race baiting for a reaction again!
1) Sell the fancy car to pay for your children’s education.
2) Parents should pay 50 % towards their children’s education, then, you would see the sparks fly.
3) Parents, do not have a financial vested interested in their children’s education !
4) Are Parents using schools as a baby sitting service ?
5) How many teachers have left the school system in disgust ?
6) No discipline in Schools !
7) You are not getting or giving value for my Tax dollars , I am very disappointed in what I see coming out of our schools today, the student does not know he/she is a failure until they try to get employment.
8) Post all graduation scores for accountability.
9) Our education system is an ABSOLUTE TOTAL FAILURE!
10) You are teaching our children the wrong stuff. Victorian !
11) Why will Bermuda never have a University?
12) Smarten up !
Why doesn’t somebody ask the question as to why some think it is the taxpayers job to send every child to college? How about those taxpayers who do not have children because they can’t afford them! In yesterday’s interview the minister was claiming that in some cases some people were receiving up to $70k. Surely that is not fair to the taxpayer without children to be expected to foot this bill? One thing for sure is I know nobody will want to pay the increase in taxes to afford this spending!
Right horn 64w32n
btw,wonder what part of SILENT SIT IN didn’t those attending understand
Hey, I see someone in the crowd that I thought would not even be near after what he said on the airwaves yesterday, sure had a change of heart, wonderful.
Thinking about jobs,can I set up a food and drink stand up at The House. With these marches,protests and sit-ins,maybe opportunity is there!
best comment all day!
Jt, the problem with interest free loans is if we can’t make people pay parking tickets what chance would the public purse have of getting paid back? Not that long ago there was a survey of our overseas students and 95 percent said they didn’t want to return home post graduation!
Make the parents guarantors…additional family accountability.
That won’t guarantee anything. Huge uncollectable loans would just be another problem for the future.
Also..if the survey is correct why would we continue to dish out grant money?
These PLP marches are just getting so boring. Complain, complain, complain, disruption, disruption, disruption, strike, strike, strike, march, march, march…not a single sensible idea or suggestion – just nothing of any value, Blah, blah, blah…. Oh I forgot SEA BED MINING
The PLP should have won the government and be forced to work with what they had created. The people that voted them in the last term are also to blame for this mess. If we don’t start saving in the next two years, there will be very little to nothing because it will all go the service the debt our beloved (PLP) put us in. What don’t people understand about the country is on the verge of being broke??? The country is like a regular man, he has borrowed money and spent it, now the borrower needs to be paid. He makes $1000, but he has to pay $750 back every week. Now he has only $250 to live from, but his other expenses are $550 a week, so he continues to borrow until the lender says sorry no more……. Yes friends, this is what our pasted government did to you and me, and people still blindly follow. Sad, all because of the color of ones skin I guess?????? Sorry it is not sad, it is very sad. Third world with no natural resources here we come, and don’t say Sir John and many others did not warn you…..
Let’s not forget the tens of thousands of dollars of taxpayer funds Dr. Brown spent on first class accommodation and air travel to the Middle East, Washington DC, the Playboy Mansion and India under the auspices of generating opportunities for Bermudians. That must amount to at least a college degree for five students, no?
According to the press, he was booking hotel rooms whose daily rate was more than two years tuition at Bermuda College.
One way for Government to save money… Have the Ferrymen tie the boat to the dock instead of powering it into the dock wasting a lot of fuel. This practise also adds to the wear and tear of the boat’s engines. I have seen them powered on to hold them at the dock for 10 – 15 minutes at a time. What a waste.
The kids just cant wait to go to Florida on spring break on your dime.
I got an idea. How bout the OBA just give the people what they want?
- increase scholarships for students
- give all the unemployed jobs (anything will do)
- keep all post offices opened
- tax the wealthy
- restrict guest workers
- keep the Medical Center in St David’s open and the tax payers cost
JUST DO IT. AND when the budget runs dry and no one can be paid, then we will still be blaming the OBA. The country will be bankrupt and mostly everyone will loss their jobs. Greece, Detroit. Need I say more.
I have to laugh out loud. How many education ministers were there under the PLP since 1998 – about 11 or 12?
What was the level of debt left by the previous PLP Government? What was the overspend by the PLP Government on the education budget?
It is a terrible shame that grants have been cut, but it is indicative of a much wider problem.
It is like maintenance of bridges – it is things like that that get cut when Government’s have no money.
A good lesson on ‘democracy in action’ for school children in Bermuda.
A vital subject on many fronts, but why allow this issue to be in contention OBA? As Minister of Economic Development, Dr Gibbons should know, with absolute certainty, that without a well educated and highly skilled workforce Bermuda will fail to compete of other countries in the financial services and tourism industries.
If we fail to open the financial paths in terms of both scholarships and bursaries then Bermudians will fail to qualify for jobs within our own country.
Is the OBA content to rely upon a foreign workforce instead of investing in our own people? Whether intended or not this policy closes the door on a lot of Blacks, teens and/or mature students, who will need bursaries in order to complete their university education.
Whereas I have heard nothing of the Government’s commitment to reducing their travel budget by £1million, on the other hand they did not even blink when they made this decision to almost eliminate education scholarships and/or bursaries.
Is this a very easy choice, OBA, in light of the ‘mess’ you inherited from the PLP? MPs overseas travel – yes, student university scholarships and/or bursaries – no.
London, England
Whereas I have heard nothing of the Government’s commitment to reducing their travel budget by $1million, on the other hand, they did not even blink when they made this decision to almost eliminate education scholarships and/or bursaries.
London, England
Well one thing is for sure a further decline of Bermuda economically will see most status Bermudians fleeing to their countries of orgins leaving the rest of us to suck it up and begin again. Than we will truly find out who is a Bermudian?
And as far as education goes if we can not afford to send our young people
overseas for further education; than perhaps the time has come when we as a country will have to do it ourselves. Other countries who have less financial resources than we do; to hear the recent statement of the finance Minister boasting about it on TV; do just that. I am not one that believes that we as a country can not do the same.
This is “for sure”, is it?
Or is it just another ridiculous assumption on your part?
But Alvin, I thought Marc Daniels told us all Bermudians are equal? Now you’re back to that “status Bermudian” and ” true Bermudian” sheet?
Let’s see how many PLP people come on and condemn your comments. We know they won’t, they’ all have the “real Bermudian” mentality.
As long as the PLP keep this island in turmoil they will NEVER EVER get my vote! How desperate to use students with this make believe protest. So,so sick of them and wanting some peace on this island. The PLP need to go away and figure out how they can be credible, not racist, not shallow, not irresponsible, not volatile, and most importantly not childish.
@Wait a Minute!
Is this “turmoil” or a warning signal? How desperate students will feel to left out in the cold by the inability to complete a university education due to financial need.
Trust me Wait a Minute, IF the PLP and/or the teachers’ union wanted to “keep this island in turmoil” its affects would have been reported in the foreign media by now.
To the civilised west a university education is considered worth protesting for. British students protested when their fees were raised from £3000 to £9000 per year; French students marched in protest when they were threatened with free university education elimination, and American students are drowning in student debt with very little prospects of a job due to the retracted recession.
A university education may not be the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, but IF Bermudians want to compete in the Bermudian corporate job market, it will be a necessity for “key” jobs that require specialised training and skills.
It is a very unfortunate reality that Blacks will be disproportionately affected by this negative OBA education policy as more Blacks than Whites will require financial assistance. That does NOT preclude the fact that there are Whites who will also be affected, nor that their disaffection is any less significant, devalued or discounted compared to Black students.
To restore Government funding in education is a Government policy of equal value, equal standing and equal status for all Bermudians.
And may I add, worthy of the “turmoil” it takes to restore it.
London, England