This was the opinion of US curriculum and multi-cultural education expert Dr.

Helen Stemler, who plans to insert 14th-17th Century African, Portuguese, West Indian and native North American history into the syllabus.

Bermuda's multi-cultural make-up demanded the changes, she said yesterday.

Children were now being taught mainly British and northern European history, she noted.

And she added: "It is a perspective of British history often written by Anglo publishing houses. It does not have a multi-cultural approach -- the southern Mediterranean areas are left out.'' As the overall curriculum coordinator for the two senior secondary schools and half-dozen middle schools in Government's major education restructuring plans, she is advising a number of committees made up of 120 people from the community on what to include in the new curriculum.

Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira said he had been promised the key to the new super-secondary school in Prospect in June 1997.

Dr. Stemler, a University of Maryland graduate, is on a three-year contract as a consultant to Government.

"She is first-class and well known in her field in the US,'' Dr. Terceira remarked.

Dr. Stemler said the curriculum revamping would bring Bermuda's school system into the 21st Century, enabling it to meet changing job markets and patterns.

"The changes will help with employability. A lot of skills will be needed -- statistics show people will be changing jobs every seven years,'' she said.

There were also plans to greatly expand computer science classes, she said.

And there would be major changes in technical education.

Consideration was being given to implementing applied math and science classes as early as in primary schools -- taking apart a motorbike for example.

And more emphasis would be placed on the subjects of telecommunications, electronics and design projects.

"A lot more on information literacy will be included, recognising that we are facing an information super-highway,'' she said.

There were also plans to update sex/health education classes, she said.

Dr. Joe Christopher of the Education Ministry, who is overseeing that task, said the current school curriculum was developed in the 1960s.

Health classes would include more teaching about sexuality and its emotional aspects, he said. Sexually transmitted diseases including AIDS would also be given more attention.

Dr. Stemler said she and team members had been meeting Tuesdays and Thursdays with schools Island-wide to present the proposed curriculum changes and seek input from teachers and PTAs.

And while speaking on the weekend at the Beyond Barriers discrimination forum, she urged anyone with suggestions for the new curriculum to call her.