The introduction of two mega senior schools in Bermuda was just one mistake which has led to some of the problems the Island's education system is facing today, according to new MP Lovitta Foggo.

Ms Foggo has devoted all of her adult life to Bermuda's public education system, having served as a teacher for 25 years, most recently, a biology teacher at The Berkeley Institute.

Now that she is an MP, she is automatically disqualified from teaching in the public schools.

"Looking at some of the underlying problems in the current state of affairs in education, I would have to backdate them to when the UBP put in a policy that introduced mega schools," she said.

Ms Foggo also taught at St. George's Secondary School, Whitney Institute, CedarBridge Academy, the Community School and the Prison Farm.

She is also a former programme manager at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute and is the proprietor of Dreams Realty. She added: "I think education is in a state of transition.

"I think they (Government) is trying to reshape it to match society at last to make certain that students graduate and that they can assume any role once leaving secondary school.

"Education requires constant updating and making certain that programmes which are put into place meet an international standard. This is so that we never render any of our students below a level which would not allow them to compete anywhere in the world."

She said the former UBP Government chose to introduce middle and mega schools at a time when the idea was failing elsewhere in the world, saying: "It was a foolish move on their part."

Not only was it foolish, but it upset the former educational infrastructure, Ms Foggo said. And as a result, turning that mistake around is not an easy measure, but is not impossible either.

She explained: "It takes careful measures to then turn that around and begin to put in place a vehicle that's going to see most of our kids on the road to success.

"As a teacher, I remember speaking out against the mega school idea right from day one."

The consolidation of the secondary school system into just two schools — CedarBridge Academy and The Berkeley Institute — brought with it student rivalries, she said.

Ms Foggo said that if there were any rivalries upon the creation of the mega school system, it was between schools and not so much gang-related.

"Certainly, when CedarBridge first came into existence, there was rivalry, but it existed mostly between schools. It wasn't so much 'gang-related' as much as it was from one school versus another.

"People would still segregate themselves according to the high schools that they previously came from. Being a teacher at Berkeley, if there are any sort of gang issues, it stems from outside of the school.

"It's not something that has unfolded within the walls of the Berkeley Institute, it's something that's pre-existent within the community.

"There has always been rivalry even when I attended high school. There was rivalry between Berkeley and Warwick Academy, maybe it was academic rivalry or in relation to sports — this is not necessarily a negative thing."

She also took issue with how the two secondary schools are often portrayed in the media, saying that the coverage is often unnecessarily negative, while positive stories are overlooked.

"Having taught at The Berkeley Institute, we had a prizegiving ceremony where we saw quite a large number of students meet high honours, without even graduating yet.

"Some of them were in receipt of five or more GCSEs and had attained A and B grades — we don't see this being highlighted in the press.

"Those types of grades speak highly of the system we do have in place. Kids are succeeding and are doing well when compared with their international counterparts."

See the Monday Interview for more on Lovitta Foggo