Teachers Union On Support, Resources & More
“There is a growing disconnect between what the Bermuda Department of Education is saying publicly about education and what is being lived daily inside Bermuda Public School System [BPSS] classrooms,” the Bermuda Union of Teachers [BUT] said.
A spokesperson said, “When the Minister of Education was recently asked what is needed to better support students experiencing significant behavioural and mental health challenges, it was an opportunity to speak plainly about what educators across this system already know. Instead, the response fell short of the reality. Because the reality is not complicated, and it is not new: our schools are under- resourced for the needs we are being asked to meet.
“Every day, educators and support staff across the BPSS walk into classrooms where student needs are more complex than they have ever been. This is not speculation or exaggeration – it is the consistent testimony of professionals with decades of experience. Teachers with 20, 30, even 40 years in the system are saying the same thing, without hesitation: the students in front of us today are different.
“They are not ‘worse’ – but they are carrying more.
“They are carrying the effects of trauma, of disrupted early development, of prolonged social isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic, and of growing mental health challenges that extend far beyond the classroom. These realities show up in schools as emotional dysregulation, heightened anxiety, aggression, withdrawal, and an increasing number of students who are simply not equipped to cope with the demands of a traditional learning environment.
“And still, the expectation remains that schools will manage all of this with the same – or in some cases, fewer – resources.
“Let’s be clear: schools cannot be expected to function as the front line of the mental health system without being given the staff and structures required to do so. Right now, BPSS educators are being asked to meet clinical-level needs without clinical-level support. That is not sustainable. It is not safe. And it is not fair – to students or to staff.
“We need more people in our schools. Not in theory, not in long-term plans, but in real, immediate, tangible ways.
“We need more paraprofessionals to support students whose needs require consistent, individualized attention. We need more psychologists so that assessments and interventions happen when they are needed – not months or years later. We need more counsellors, educational therapists, and social workers embedded within our schools so that students can access support before they reach a crisis point. We need occupational and physical therapists to address the developmental and sensory challenges that are increasingly present in our classrooms.
“And just as critically, we need time.
“Time to plan. Time to collaborate. Time to build thoughtful, trauma-informed responses instead of reacting moment to moment. Right now, too many educators are operating in survival mode – managing behaviours as they arise, without the capacity to put the preventative structures in place that would actually make a difference.
“This is where the conversation must shift; because this is not about asking for extras. This is not about enhancing the system – this is about making the system functional.
“Supporting students with significant behavioural and mental health needs is not optional. It is foundational. Without it, learning cannot happen in any meaningful or sustained way.
“And doing what is right for our students should not have to be negotiated.
“Educators in the BPSS are not raising these concerns lightly. They are raising them because they are witnessing, every single day, the gap between what students need and what the system is currently able to provide. They are doing everything they can within that gap – but goodwill and dedication are not substitutes for staffing, resources, and time.
“The message is consistent, and it is urgent. We need more staff. We need more support. We need more time.
“Anything less is a failure to meet the moment – and a failure to meet the needs of the students we are all responsible for serving.”
