Column: Cunningham On Education & More
[Opinion column written by OBA’s Victoria Cunningham]
As the school year ends and families prepare for the summer, we must confront a hard truth: Bermuda’s public education reform is at a crossroads.
The recently tabled 2025/2026 Education Budget outlines the Government’s plans to spend nearly $150 million on Bermuda’s public education system, the largest education budget in our history. At first glance, this level of investment should be welcome news for students, parents, and educators alike. After all, who would disagree with a commitment to improving our schools?
And yet, as a Senator and someone deeply committed to the future of our children, I see a troubling disconnect between spending and outcomes, promises and progress.
The transition to a two-tier system, the closure of middle schools, the creation of Parish Primary Schools and Signature Senior Schools was marketed as bold and transformative. But what I’ve seen is something very different: confusion, frustration, dwindling enrolment, and a growing lack of trust.
Take Purvis, one of the Government’s flagship Parish Primary Schools. This year, only five students are enrolled in Year 8. When families are opting out of public education, we need to ask why. The answers are clear: missing programmes like art and music, a lack of communication, and unclear academic direction.
And Signature Senior Schools, once promised for 2025, have already been delayed to 2026. Why? Because the infrastructure isn’t ready, the planning isn’t in place, and the public was never truly brought along. Students and parents are being left to deal with the consequences of decisions they had no voice in.
And then there are the students. The reason we’re doing this in the first place. I see targets for critical exams like the iGCSEs and City & Guilds Employability Skills Certifications set as low as 50% or 60%, and still not being met. That’s unacceptable. If our goal is excellence, then we must raise both our expectations and our support systems.
This isn’t about politics, it’s about people. It’s about young Bermudians who deserve a public education system that prepares them for whatever path they choose: college, skilled trades, entrepreneurship, or the workforce.
I believe in reform. But I also believe reform must be thoughtful, inclusive, transparent, and focused on results, not just headlines or construction projects.
The One Bermuda Alliance believes in putting students first. We want to see stable leadership, clear plans, and real partnerships with parents, teachers, and principals. We want to see accountability in how funds are spent and honest conversations about what’s working and what isn’t.
We cannot afford another year of delays, miscommunication, and missed opportunities. Let’s work together, across parties and across communities, to build a public education system that gives every Bermudian child the chance to thrive.
Because when our children succeed, we all succeed.
- Victoria Cunningham, Opposition Senator, Spokesperson for Education
Maybe instead of opposing so much question whether the numbers are reflective of the exodus from Bermuda. Many are facing financial hardships stressors and difficulties and have fled.
Maybe finding mutual solutions rather than dividing the few who remain even more. The cost of living are too high for young people to have hope. Housing division on the job. Inability to pay for healthy foods or medicines have added to this departure.
Social behaviours have deteriorated by the horrific losses Young black males aren’t safe. If we can stop and search the real issues things can turn around. Building a mutual future were everyone benefits. Parents and children can return to a caring peaceful Bermuda
“Maybe finding mutual solutions rather than dividing the few who remain even more”
Sadly, divide and conquer has been the way of successive governments in Bermuda for decades. Today is no different from 50 years ago.
Attempting to maintain relevance in a context where the electorate shows disinterest in your political party is quite absurd. LMAO
You replied to the wrong post. I have never belonged to any political party.
Hold on, don’t leave the obaubp: they are in the process of renaming the party again and removing the current clown leader.
Yep the PLP only had 27% of the Electorate at the last election.
Nonetheless, they were ultimately able to defeat the obaubp, which serves as a testament to the opposition pitful state.
All you have to do is look around you to see the Bermudians are naturaly uneducated sad to say.
Education is pertnership with the school system and the student if there is a breakdown in that partnership all is lost.
Need i tell you sometning that you do not already know may be there need to be insentives offered or are they teach the subjects that realy do not matter being alot of filler ontop of alot more of filler.
A school leaving certificate is not good enough.
posibly it is peer pressure with in the schools student on student ,or the lack of interes,t or the scooter that is holding our young people back i will also blame poor TV programing CITV sucks a cellphones also add to the problem let us call them all diversions got to get off the hook an blame the parent or oparents as the are i the same boat going back 50 years.
Has our Governmrent failed their people?
The bottom line is always the teacher and always will be .