The Heads of two of the Island's private schools stressed that the integration of schools was in the interest of Bermuda as a whole.

Both Warwick Academy and Bermuda High School for Girls have seen a steady increase of blacks and other students of colour since the passage of the 1965 Integration Act.

But Warwick principal Mr. Bernard Beacroft and BHS head teacher Mrs. Eleanor Kingsbury and head of the school's primary department Mrs. Lorna Anderson stressed that much more needed to be done.

And, they said, the schools were making a conscious effort to have their student body reflect the ethnic diversity of the community.

Boasting that Warwick Academy's secondary level was 70 percent black and 30 percent white, Mr. Beacroft said: "I think we accurately reflect Bermuda as a whole as a secondary school. And having turned private, one of the basic hopes of the school board is that Warwick Academy will remain a racially mixed school.'' While noting that there were many ways to combat racism in Bermuda, Mr.

Beacroft said it could start with the friendships among students of all colours at school.

"Given the racial mix that we have, and the day-by-day mixing of students, there is a very powerful moulding process going on at school,'' he said.

In addition to taking in students of various ethnic backgrounds, Mr. Beacroft said Warwick was trying to develop an international and multicultural curriculum.

However, he said: "We don't do black studies, but hopefully we don't do white studies either. But we do celebrate relative themes, such as Martin Luther King Day.'' Noting that the school was moving away from the old British system of General Certificates of English or GCEs, Mr. Beacroft said Warwick had adopted the International General Certificate of Secondary Education which placed more emphasis on a practical approach to teaching and learning.

The IGCSE, he noted, also had a curriculum that was suitable for students of all nationalities and levels of ability.

Mr. Beacroft said Warwick was also trying to increase its number of black teachers.

"We are moving slowly in that direction,'' he said.

The private sector But he added that because the school was subject oriented and required specialists in areas such as physics, chemistry, and languages such as Latin and German, the pool of Bermudians was very small.

"Quite often we advertise and no locals apply,'' Mr. Beacroft said, adding that he believed many Bermudians who specialised desired to enter the corporate sector.

Asked why he believed white parents did not send their children to predominantly black schools, Mr. Beacroft said he believed it was not a matter of race, but rather parents wanting their children to attend their alma mater.

He said the school offered 70 bursaries, ranging from $3,000 to $500, to secondary students in financial need this year.

"I'm very hopeful about Warwick Academy,'' Mr. Beacroft said. "I do believe we have a very good harmonious relationship among teachers and students.'' BHS head teachers were equally optimistic about race relations in education.

Mrs. Anderson, who remembered the early days of integration and the great reluctance to it, said: "At the beginning BHS was not conscious of making an effort to increase the number of non-white students.'' But she noted that this was steadily changing.

Today, 22 percent of the student body is non-white, with some 15 percent black. And three of the top student posts -- head girl, games captain, and head of the students society -- are held by blacks.

However, the integration process has not been easy, Mrs. Anderson admitted.

"To go out and make the effort is not the easiest thing to do,'' she said.

"You can't go around putting ads in the paper saying we need to make a better showing of racial balance in the school, so whites stay away, black students come in.

"I think the consciousness has been on trying to make black students more comfortable.

"Whether or not we've succeeded in making our black students feel more comfortable, and some of them may not be, I think we have succeeded in making our black parents feel comfortable.'' And she said BHS, particularly at the primary level, was making a real effort to celebrate all cultures.

"For instance in assembly, if we do the creation story, I don't just take the Christian creation story. I would take creation from the aborigines, creation story from African tribes, from the Native American. I would consciously look for stories that reflect cultural and the common thread in cultures.

"The world is changing,'' Mrs. Kingsbury said, noting the increase of multiculturalism. "It is up to us to equip these young people to live in the 21st Century.''