Minister Diallo Rabain On Education Reform

Speaking in the House of Assembly, Minister of Education Diallo Rabain provided an update on the work that is taking place to reform the public education system in Bermuda.

The Minister’s full statement follows below:

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to update this Honourable House and the listening public on the exciting work that is taking place to reform the public education system in Bermuda. Before I do that, however, I’d like to remind this House and the listening public of the journey to date.

In 2017, the Government committed to transform public education so that each and every public school student would receive a high-quality public education. This promise, to the children, families and broader community was a response to widespread community calls for change. Supported by our powerful vision for learning, our goal is for an education system where all young people are educated to lead personally and professionally, compete locally, and contribute globally

Mr. Speaker, having a Parish Primary School in each parish will create a learning hub in each parish, mobilising the strengths and assets of communities in support of our schools. This model will provide the much needed support for teaching and learning, improved educational programmes and initiatives, and create strong authentic partnerships to help schools transform into places that are relevant to the needs of 21st century learners in Bermuda.

The Parish Primary school model provides the opportunity for us all to have a laser-like focus on what is in the best interest of Bermuda’s children and young people. Both now and in their future. This means we will always be focused on:

• Equity – the critical imperative of elevating each and every learner, irrespective of their background or current circumstance

• Impact – providing the opportunity for all young people to be educated to lead personally and professionally, compete locally, and contribute globally

• Resourcing – better utilization of our precious resources across a fewer number of primary schools

Mr. Speaker, after extensive consultation to obtain the views, comments, questions and feedback from persons who could be directly affected by the proposals and the wider community, a determination was made that there will be 10 parish primary schools, comprising 1 school per parish, except for Pembroke, which would have 2.

Mr. Speaker, we acknowledge that these decisions have affected each school and schoolcommunity differently. Our ongoing commitment is to sensitively handle the transition process and include opportunities for as much stakeholder and community participation as is required. The implementation of these decisions will not happen overnight, but will be phased in over the next 7-10 years.

Mr. Speaker, honouring and preserving the history and legacy of primary schools will be a critical part of the community-involved process of transition and implementation to the new model of Parish Primary Schools. Therefore, the Ministry will continue to collaborate with community members, including persons with deep connections to schools in order to develop the best ways to honour and preserve the history and legacy of primary schools. This work will be guided and delivered by the History and Legacy Committee.

Mr. Speaker, this brings me to an update on where we are currently. Our first two Parish Primary Schools have begun the transformation journey. Purvis Primary School in Warwick Parish and Francis Patton Primary and Lyceum Pre-school in Hamilton Parish have been working diligently since June of this year with the support of their Assistant Directors and our change partners, Innovation Unit, on the School Transformation process.

Mr. Speaker, I am genuinely excited to be sharing their progress with you. The School Transformation Teams for both Francis Patton and Purvis have:

• Undertaken research with the community to understand the hopes, dreams and aspirations they have for their young people and their community
• Identified key features of all Parish Primary Schools. That is they will:
  • o Be the hub of their community
  • o Places which make learning a priority
  • o Focused on students’ interests and ambitions in and outside of the school
  • o Take place in flexible learning spaces
  • o Where students will develop 21st-century skills
  • o Where teachers collaborate with each other and across schools
  • o And where families are learning partners
  • o Where students are culturally and globally connected
  • o And where history and legacy are preserved
• Developed blueprints for these generic features and made them locally relevant to each Parish Community; and
• Tested these blueprints wide and far with all stakeholders in order to refine them.

Mr. Speaker, after an internal approval process with the Executive Leadership Team of the Department of Education to ensure that the work is of the highest quality, these blueprints have formed the basis for the next phase of work. The phase where we work out how to make these things happen, how to bring these ideas on a page to life and to ensure our teachers and community partners are both confident and competent to implement them for the benefit of all learners.

Mr. Speaker, I have been grateful to participate in some of these processes and heartened to hear about the work that has been undertaken most recently. I would like to give you the example of the Open Houses at both of our new Parish Primary School sites. The Open Houses were oversubscribed. Continuing and prospective family and community members attended in large numbers. They were excited to hear about the plans for each of the schools.

Mr. Speaker, some may even say they were impatient, wanting our Parish Primary Schools to be ready even sooner than what we have planned.

Mr. Speaker, this “impatient optimism” is a very good problem to have. We know that in order for a country to thrive, it must have a trusted and high-performing public school system. We know we have the talent and assets on the island, both within schools and the broader community, to build this. And, for the first time in a long time, we have a Government that has the political will to see this through.

Mr. Speaker, I look forward to continuing to update this House and the general public on future developments but I implore everyone to not wait for that. Our School Transformation Teams for both Parish Primary Schools and our Signature Senior Schools are looking for even more people to join the Education Reform movement. No matter how big or small you think your contribution could be, we welcome it. You can find out more at learningfirstbda.com or by emailing schoolredesign@moed.bm.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker.

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