“At no point was the information that was asked for by St. George’s Preparatory (SGP) withheld,” stated the Minister of Education, Hon. Diallo Rabain.
“St. George’s Preparatory (SGP) requested the data used surrounding the development of the Education Authority. The Education Authority Working Group met with SGP, and all relevant data and information requested were furnished. It should be noted that this was a similar exercise to the meetings held with SGP regarding the Parish Primary School proposal for St. George’s Parish before the final decision published in June 2021.”
Minister Rabain added, “Specifically focusing on this week’s video clip from the April 2022 meeting, there needs to be clarity:
This meeting was with all the aided schools. The meeting focused on developing an Education Authority (EA) for the Public School System. During this meeting with the Education Authority Working Group, the purpose was to get a better and more precise understanding of how boards are used at the school level effectively. We were talking
specifically about all-aided schools.
The circulating video clip is an excerpt of the almost 3-hour Zoom meeting recording furnished only to St. George’s Prep at their request after the meeting. This request was not unusual, and often the recordings of our Zoom meetings are requested to allow for recollection of discussions and accurate documentation.
The public should know that we have been consulting and providing information to St. George’s Preparatory (SGP) stakeholders. As with all-aided schools, we meet with the school boards before meeting with the parents and staff.
My comment that has been taken out of context was that St. George’s Preparatory
requested the data being used surrounding the development of the Education Authority.
We had already met with SGP (and all other aided schools) individually and then simultaneously. The Working Group’s plans and thought processes were shared in all meetings, and all relevant data and information requested were furnished.
St. George’s Preparatory requested the data being used surrounding the development of the Education Authority, and we had already furnished all that we had available. At no point was any
information that was asked for withheld.
The Education Authority Working Group will continue to meet with all relevant stakeholders to discuss the idea of an Education Authority. These meetings aimed to gather data from our
stakeholders, share our development process and how decisions were arrived at and then take questions. Follow-up meetings are still being scheduled as we continue to move the development
of the Education Authority along.
Regarding the consultation and information for the Parish Primary Schools held from December 2020 to June 2021, all the relevant data is still available for the public to look at, including all the responses received from the public and, lastly, the final report. All the public information can be
found here:
Parish_Parish_School_Decision_Report.pdf
2_Parish_Parish_School_Consultation_Report.pdf
3_Parish_Parish_School_Consultation_Submissions.pdf
FAQs Ministry Report Final.pdf (moed.bm)
https://www.moed.bm/files/Executive%20Summary.pdf
Lastly, in light of this week’s discussions, the Premier, the Hon. David Burt, JP, MP stated:
“The Minister of Education continues to advance the mammoth task of education reform. Our public schools have increased technology, increased funding, and we are delivering on our pledge to phase out middle schools.
“We’ve begun phasing in signature schools, we’re set to open the first two parish primary schools, and over the last four years, we have provided opportunities for consultation with
parents, teachers (active & retired), students, and administrators, with more to come, to reform Bermuda’s public education system for the future.
“A one-minute clip from a three-hour meeting, where the Minister was speaking about an Education Authority which enjoys the support of both political parties in Bermuda, shows that
the opposition has resorted to political games rather than engaging in this process which should.
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