strange part was that the PLP protested the idea of middle schools, but then soon after being elected built ANOTHER middle school, Berkeley.

Kinda reminds me how they came up with airport plans years ago because we needed an airport but couldn’t make it happen. but when the OBA made it happen , they protest an marched saying we didn’t need an airport after all.

I’m always interested in the education debate. I am dying to know what the best solution is, because it seems no one actually knows. Having a younger brother, my biggest disappointment is the lack of prep senior school has provided for his transition into the real world. I can recall our guidance counselors being absolute pit-bulls!

I still have faith in the system, but it needs reform. Generally speaking, private/ boarding schools do provide greater exposure, but I don’t think it’s the magic pill. Plenty mates from my younger days who used to brag about private school are working odd jobs in the heat; some by choice, others by economic consequence…

If you look at the Finnish school system and how deplorable and segregated it was back in the 1970s and 1980s you can see what they have done with it changing over to their new “comprehensive school” system (abolishing private schools and controversially forcing all children, rich, poor, white, black, Muslim, Catholic to attend school together) and you can see how this system not only was a method to improving their school system (bringing them to the number 1 spot in the world in science and math) but also helping to integrate their society.

They have very few children in a class (10). Their teachers are the most educated in their community all of them being required to, at a minimum, have a Master’s Degree, most having a Doctorate Degree. For example, a 1st grade math teacher might have a Doctorate in Electrical Engineering. They are highly respected and highly paid and they are trained by Finland.

Sounds like a very expensive proposal, right? And we have no money, right?

If we care about the youth we are churning out right now who will be either productive adults in 20 years or very unproductive adults in 20 years who create societal problems for everyone; if we care and want to fix a lot of our societal division and racial problems along with criminal problems, we need to start investing NOW in our education system and our youth.

We cannot just spend money on moldy walls. That is the minimum of services a Government can provide. That is maintenance! That is not investment!

Can 100% of the proceeds of gambling be allocated to our education system like they do in some US states? If we were to start in September with a pilot programme like this at the Kindergarten level, what results would we see next year, 10 years from now, 20 years from now? Imagine if our public schools were actually better and more sought after than our private schools? Where would you send your child and would our society be better off 20 years from now?

Public education has been ignored for far too long. Where is your platform for education OBA/PLP? I don’t want to know what you have done and what you have spent? I want to know what you are going to do for the youth of Bermuda going forward.

This is the mentality we are lacking in our current Government…if we are supposed to rely on what you have done for Bermuda’s education since you have been in office, my vote would be an F “you have failed miserably!!!”

There you have it! This is where the money is spent. Teachers calling in sick and the use of paraeducators. Here’s the rub…and a serious analysis of this needs to be forth coming.

PLP pay lip service to serious issues and then ignore them….like PATI. They passed it but never enacted it (wonder why), the OBA had to do so.

Please note that the excellent private schools are not unionized, have minimal interference from the D of Ed, do not tolerate poor teachers [ Bermudian or Expat] and have parents who have a keen interest in their child’s education.

QED!

The budget for the Ministry of Education divided by the number of students enrolled in government schools amounts to about $77,000 per student per year.

Why the discrepancy?

Sad if you believe everything that you are told….

Let’s see – Trump / Brexit / etc…

The world has problems …shhhh!

I am rambling now….even if we sent the neediest or most at risk 40% abroad for their education perhaps it would have huge rewards for Bermuda. Out sourcing education?

It doesn’t matter how bad they are.

Money will not change the failed system.
Do either of the parties have a plan focused on the actual schools, curriculum, teachers and students?
Once you remove the mold there are still teachers that need ongoing training and students that require instruction to succeed.

Now let’s see the folks who want a divided Bermuda twist this around and spit out lies and twisted versions of the truth