Premier & Minister To Attend Meeting Next Month
Premier David Burt and Minister of Education Diallo Rabain “will attend a public meeting in Sandys” next month to “discuss the concerns raised by the West End Warriors for Legacy Group,” the Government has confirmed.
A Government spokesperson said, “The Premier, the Hon. E. David Burt, and Minister of Education, the Hon. Diallo Rabain, will attend a public meeting in Sandys, fulfilling the Government’s commitment to engage in ongoing dialogue about education reform. The meeting, scheduled for July 11th at 7.00 pm [location to be confirmed], aims to discuss the concerns raised by the West End Warriors for Legacy Group and proposals for advancing the education reform initiative.
“This commitment to open dialogue follows a series of discussions between the Premier, the Minister of Education, the Hon. Diallo Rabain and the West End Warriors, led by Ms. Ellen Kate Horton. These meetings came as a response to West End Warriors’ concerns over the Parish Primary School selection process.
“In late 2022, at a town hall meeting, the Premier committed to attending a public meeting in Sandys. To advance this commitment, the Premier invited representatives from the West End Warriors to a discussion resulting in a productive dialogue on May 1, 2023, at the Cabinet Office. The Premier and the Minister of Education thought it essential to invite the group to meet, including a third-party mediator and lawyer, Kim Wilkerson, to create a communication and collaboration platform and explore possible solutions to reduce the concerns expressed.
“A second follow-up meeting was held on June 1, to respond to a series of questions posed by West End Warriors, including issues related to the scoring rubric, justifications for the scoring, and officials responsible for the scoring.
“These discussions aimed to foster a mutual commitment to open and honest dialogue, enhancing understanding of the various perspectives, and helping define common ground in advance of a public meeting,” the Premier said. “We wanted to ensure that the leadership of the West End Warriors had the most up-to-date information and could pose questions and get responses that would aid in the agreed-upon public meeting.
“This ongoing engagement represents the government’s determination to maintain the best interests of Bermuda’s students at the forefront of education reform discussions as we continue to invest in upgraded facilities for our public schools and modernise Bermuda’s education system for the future. We look forward to discussing these matters at the public meeting with the West End Warriors next month.”
Stop talking about what you are going to do! How dare you claim ” we continue to invest in upgraded facilities for our public schools and modernize Bermuda’s education system for the future”. What have you upgraded? There have been some band-aid fixes, but I would hardly call them modernizing! Many of the teachers don’t even have the most basic of tools like a printer, copier or smart board readily available to them. We’ll of course there is always the one exception (Berkeley) the one school that gets it all, while the others get the scraps.
The biggest problem with the Ministry of Education is that it is top heavy. Way too many senior admin people taking home paychecks for doing surprisingly little. Trim the fat and get rid of the non-performers so that there will be money to spend on the tools that teachers need. Then maybe some effort can be made to upgrade and not band aid fix the networks and infrastructure of the schools not called Berkeley.
The private schools have upgraded facilities, buildings in great shape, pools, climbing walls, tech STEAM / STEM programs, working tech equipment, and they do it all while spending I believe 30% less per child! Their board members work to make their schools better, teachers are expected to perform and care about their students and students and parents work hard and get involved with fundraising through well-organized fairs, raffles and more.
We are are done hearing about “what you are going to do” and “how things will get better” . Just stop. You have had 20+ years and there is not one school (aside from Berkeley) not primary, middle, senior or even the Bermuda college that is well maintained and in better shape than when the PLP took over. Sorry but it is FACT and the sad thing is that the teachers and students pay for it, while everyone including most parents, remains quiet because they fear retribution against themselves or their child.
You might have pointed to the fact that Warwick Secondary School was closed a few years ago because it was not fit for use. It has a leaking roof, chronic mould and other problems that would not have existed had the school been properly maintained.
Who on earth wrote that address? No idea what it says as I didn’t read it, just that it is so long I’m surprised some of the future leaders didn’t fall asleep.
Seems typical Burt, all talk and ideas and no substance. Bermuda needs leaders now. Photo ops don’t cut it. Could we get some of Cayman’s leaders on contract? Less messy than the UK coming in.