The following letter was sent to Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons and copied to The Royal Gazette. Dr Gibbons’ reply, also copied to The Royal Gazette, follows below.July 15, 2011Dear Dr Gibbons,It is with interest that I read the comments attributed to you in the July 13 edition of The Royal Gazette (“Perception may be the reason for falling enrolment at Bermuda College — Dr Gibbons; pages 1, 3). I note in particular your alarm at the falling figures for full-time student enrolment, but were at a loss to explain why you did not refer at all to the increased numbers of part-time students enrolled at the College (1,018 from 911) in that same period. Perhaps by design or otherwise, the figures were omitted from your parliamentary questions, but I am sure you would agree, their inclusion paints a very different picture. Students are coming to Bermuda College and are deliberately making it their first step to higher education or professional goals.You also made a rather curious comparison to enrolment figures 20 years ago, when Bermuda was in a vastly different space. Most students 20 years ago left high school at the age of 16. For many Bermuda College was the only option as going overseas at such a young age was not an option. Today’s students are leaving high school some two years older at the age of 18; and, going directly overseas is an option. Twenty years ago the amount of scholarships and awards available was nowhere at the level it is today; hence the opportunities for young Bermudians to further their education overseas were limited. Twenty years ago we did not have the majority of our high school students in private schools. One of the marketing tools for any private high school is the number of graduates accepted in to four-year institutions (not two-year institutions). Although the private schools allow us the opportunity to make presentations to their graduates, we know they are not marketing Bermuda College as the first choice to their students or parents. Would we at the College like to have more full time students? Of course we would, but we realise that many of our students are part-time as they need to work full-time to assist their families in making a living.Lest your motives be perceived by some to be deliberately deleterious, the College will state for the record that public perception is shaped in large part, and influenced equally by leaders such as yourself. Those who have been through Bermuda College — as both our most recent public perception and graduate surveys indicate (and this was prior to accreditation) — are proud of it: proud of what they have been able to accomplish, and proud of how well they are prepared for the next step of their journeys. Unfortunately, however, these individuals have had to plough through the mire of negative perceptions and opinions of those who have had no personal or direct experience at Bermuda College.Selected numbers tell but half the story; and only that which one wants to be told. We will be happy to give you the entire story, so that negative or erroneous perceptions, fuelled by misleading numbers can be changed. As an alternative to becoming caught up in the political grandstanding that often occurs with education in general and seemingly with Bermuda College in particular, we would like to again invite you to visit Bermuda College — without public fanfare or political posturing — to get a first-hand experience of the institution. This will afford you the opportunity to meet the “excellent” faculty to whom you refer in the article; and get a first-hand look at “the hard work” that is being done on a daily basis to set Bermuda’s students on the paths to success. During your visit you will also meet the dedicated students from all walks of life, who are here, and are happy to be here, and can tell you truly inspiring stories of the value placed on having a college education, because going overseas right now is not an option for many of them. An invitation has been extended to you several times and it remains open. The new academic year begins on August 29. It would be our heartfelt pleasure to have you as the guest of Bermuda College on a day or half-day of your choosing during the upcoming semester. In this way, it is anticipated that many of the perceptions that seem to plague those who don’t have real experience with Bermuda College can be changed by those like yourself, who will have had such an experience.Perceptions can indeed change — one person at a time. We solicit your personal support in this endeavour, not only as the Shadow Minister of Education but also as the sitting Member of Parliament for the constituency in which Bermuda College is located.Dr. DURANDA V GREENEPresident & Class of 1981Bermuda CollegeJuly 15, 2011Dear Dr Greene,Thank you for your letter of July 15, copied to The Royal Gazette. I would be pleased to accept your invitation to visit the Bermuda College during the upcoming semester. As you will recall, your former assistant, Mrs Smith, did try on a number of occasions last year to organise a similar visit, but your busy schedule as well as my own made it difficult to find a mutually convenient date.I am sorry that you felt my reported comments about the College were either overly critical or “curious”, but, in fact, they came from a long interview with a Royal Gazette reporter about my thoughts on the Mincy Report. As you know, unfavourable perceptions about Bermuda College were repeatedly raised in interviews between Professor Mincy’s team and young black males from one of the public senior secondary schools. It is important that these perceptions improve if the College is to fulfill its role in attracting and training more young Bermudians and particularly those who need greater career options.My remarks about Bermuda College enrolment were based on answers to Parliamentary Questions provided by the Minister of Education for both full-time and part-time student enrolment at Bermuda College. You would be aware that these are questions I have asked regularly over the last few years. The reporter had the full set of questions and answers available in writing his story.While your letter implies that my reported comments about the College were simply “political grandstanding” or possibly “deliberately deleterious,” this could not be further from the truth. I care about and have high regard for Bermuda College. As you may know, I served on the Bermuda College board and have consistently attended graduations and other important events I have been invited to since that time. I also participated in a series of strategic planning exercises that the College held prior to your tenure.I agree that the social environment that framed the educational system 20 years ago was vastly different from today. However, your observation simply underscores the changing nature of things and the need to review regularly whether the College is adequately addressing the needs of both young and mature students, as well as Bermuda’s ongoing requirements for a well-trained and educated Bermudian work force. In this regard, it is clear that Bermuda College in the early 1990s had a significantly higher enrolment of both full and part-time students, and Professor Mincy’s report simply highlighted a few of many possible factors that might have contributed to this situation.While it is important, as you suggest, to listen to the inspiring stories of recent graduates, it is not a sufficient means of evaluating an educational system or its components. Increasingly, jurisdictions are demanding performance from their educational institutions that is measured by objective, data-based standards, in addition to empirical observations. This is one of the reasons that the Opposition has repeatedly called for an Educational Standards Board, such as those established in other countries, to provide objective information to parents and the community on the performance and results of the Bermuda public education system. As a member of the Opposition, and the One Bermuda Alliance shadow minister for education, I have a public duty to assess not just the success stories of students but also whether the College is providing value to the Bermudian taxpayer for the $18 million allocated this year and meeting the needs of the community in an appropriate way.Although he chose not to use them in his story, the reporter also had the full set of answers to Parliamentary Questions from March on graduation rates for both associate degree and certificate/diploma programmes over the last few years. The results further support my concern that the College is being significantly underutilised, particularly in the Hospitality and Technology/Applied Science Divisions. The answers show that in 2010 the total number of graduates with Associates Degrees as well as those with certificates/diplomas was four in Hospitality and seven in the whole area of Technology and Applied Sciences. I don’t have the number of graduates for 2011 by division, but I’m hopeful that there has been an increase in these areas that are critical to Bermuda’s economic future and providing young Bermudians with job opportunities.I will be in contact with your assistant to arrange a convenient time to visit the College following the start of the fall semester.Dr GRANT GIBBONSShadow Minister of Education