Good Afternoon and thank you for coming.
In last year’s throne speech, in alignment with the Government’s 2017 Platform to: “Put Our Children and their Future First”, this government committed to meeting that challenge. That commitment was made then and we are just and even more so committed to improving public education in Bermuda so that our children will be equipped and ready to face their future.
Since taking office, your Government has worked around the clock to meet with stakeholders, unions, parents, community and corporate partners to implement new programmes and initiatives in our school and in the workforce. Our pledge to commit our public service resources and finances toward education, training and career development has resulted in significant progress and new programmes. We have put education first by:
- Implementing a STEAM curriculum in Primary Schools in September 2018.
- Offering $300k in financial support for over 300 Bermudian students enabling them to receive an education at the Bermuda College.
- Providing more diverse scholarships, awards and training opportunities for our Bermudian students to attend local and overseas colleges and universities to further education or training/certification.
- Establishing the first Youth Empowerment Summit for Head Boys, Head Girls and Deputy Head Boys and Girls; the first Annual Student Employment Fair for senior school students; and the first Annual Father of the Year Essay competition for primary students.
- Improving our relationship and communications with parents through the Parental Involvement Committee; an online parent-friendly Cambridge Checkpoint Assessment report and Inside Public Schools Newsletter
- Initiated the start of the consultation process to phase out Middle Schools in favour of signature schools.
- And, we are on schedule to have Wi-Fi operational in all Primary Schools for the start of the 2018/19 School year.
While we have made significant progress and education has received increased funding, work remains to be done. However, with improved input from parents, students, community and Union partners, we are experiencing a change in attitude and direction toward public school education.
For far too long public education has been the used as an easy target for abuse, scrutiny and political gamesmanship and press statements. It’s easy to take potshots at staffs, teachers, parents, and even sadly students.
But your Government is committed to the fight and will work alongside our partners to protect public education funding, and more training and development for our teachers. So that public education can resemble an inclusive model as outlined in Plan 2022. We will stand strong and remain committed to the work that has begun this year.
In ensuring this, a promise was made to
“review and implement the recommendations from the Department’s Strategic Review with realistic and achievable milestones to ensure a data- driven process to measure performance of the System”.
We can report that Plan 2022 was completed in November 2017 and released to the public in December 2017. The Department of Education has completed the operationalization of the strategies as outlined in the Plan in May 2018. The objectives in Department of Education officers forward job plans have been directly linked to strategies in Plan 2022 with achievable deadlines. This will ensure execution of work tasks that will facilitate the completion of strategies and provide measures of performance.
Within the Department of Workforce Development, we are putting Bermudians first by creating a level playing field and building a better competitive advantage for Bermudian trade professionals by fully implementing the National Certification Programme. Between September and December 2017, just under 1,000 professionals in the Electrical, Automotive, Welding and Landscape Gardener trades have applied for registration as certified Tradesmen. Verification of these applications are ongoing as we look to have them assessed and completed by December 2018.
A commitment that has also been completed is the “creation of a National Workforce Development Plan in collaboration with our key stakeholders, to ensure Bermudians are properly prepared to take advantage of both current and future job opportunities”. In January 2018, a Working Group was established as a non-statutory committee to undertake the development of this National Workforce Development Plan. The Working Group met over a two-month period and engaged industry stakeholders to understand Bermuda’s workforce needs, chronic challenges, and the current state of Bermuda’s labour market. Meetings were also held with our senior school students participating in the Career Pathways Programme to garner input.
This process was inclusive and with the data and information gathered from the various stakeholder groups were used as artillery for the Working Group to develop a comprehensive Workforce Development Plan for Bermuda. This Plan lays the foundation for a 21st Century Workforce Development System that will connect people with jobs and provide the opportunities to prepare Bermudians with the requisite skills to enter the job market. We are taking this plan and creating an implementation strategy the will transform the Department of Workforce Development into a One-Stop Career Center.
In closing, I wish to thank the Ministry of Education and Workforce Development teams at the Department of Education, the Bermuda National Library and Archives, the Department of Workforce Development and the Bermuda College. This has been a year of transformation, change and progress. The teams have all risen to the occasion as we implement the Government’s commitments to Bermuda.
We cannot make the necessary changes alone, we must work collectively to begin the transformation and improvements that ensure we are building a better and fairer Bermuda.
Thank you and I will take questions now…..