Government borrowed its ideas from is being urged to return to a 12-year school system.

Ontario should use the money it saves by chopping the 13th school year to offset the cost of enhanced early childhood education, the province's Royal Commission on Learning said in a report released last week.

The Bermuda Government's education reform plan, which takes effect with the opening of the new senior secondary school at Prospect in September of 1997, will add a 13th year to the Island's school system.

The work of the Education Planning Team, which devised many of the school reforms, stemmed from the work of an Ontario consultant. Many of Bermuda's reform ideas, including the 13th school year, were borrowed from Ontario.

But the Royal Commission report, which was based on thousands of presentations over 18 months, said children can complete the curriculum within 12 years. The money saved can be used to help offer "school readiness programmes for all three-year-olds whose parents wish to enroll them''.

Ontario already has pre-school, called "junior kindergarten,'' for all four-year-olds.

Asked about the Commission report, Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira said some of the other 166 recommendations closely mirror the changes planned in Bermuda.

In some respects, "our plans are sort of ahead of Ontario, in that what they are now advocating we have in train already,'' he said.

For example, the report calls for a greater role for the wider community in the running of schools. That sounds very similar to Dr. Terceira's plan for decentralisation and a community-based board for each Bermuda school.

"Overburdened teachers cannot be as effective as they need to be with their primary role: enhancing students' intellectual competence,'' said a summary of the report released by the Ontario Ministry of Education.

"Community resources -- parents, community organisations, social agencies, businesses and unions, religious, cultural and athletic groups -- must share the non-academic tasks.

"The Commmission recommends that every school create a school-community council, with staff, parents, students and community representatives, to better link school and community.'' In Bermuda, closer links with the community could also be found through programmes like the Lions life skills programme and the Junior Enterprise programme, Dr. Terceira said.

While Bermuda is about to add, rather than remove, a 13th school year, Dr.

Terceira said the emphasis on early childhood education that prompted the recommendation was shared by Bermuda through its highly-touted pre-school programme.

Bermuda could look at dropping its 13th year in about ten years, Dr. Terceira said. But presently, "we have a lot of the students finishing at age 17 who are not quite prepared''.

School system may drop 13th year The Commission's call for a common report card is "exactly what our BSSC attempts to do,'' Dr. Terceira said. The proposed Charters of Rights and Responsibilities for parents and students will be incorporated in Bermuda's school Code of Conduct.

And while the new 1,200-student school at Prospect has been attacked as a "mega-school'', throughout the Royal Commission report, "the size of the school is not an issue,'' the Minister said.

Other proposals of the Royal Commission include a central curriculum with a small local option; two kinds of courses -- academic and applied -- for grades 10 through 12; provincial reading and math assessments at the end of Grade 3; and a province-wide "literacy guarantee'' test in Grade 11.

It also calls for two years of teacher training, up from one, and establishment of an independent professional teachers' body to assure standards.

"I would like to see us move toward the requirement of a two-year teacher education programme, rather than one year,'' Dr. Terceira said. "We would certainly grandfather all those who are now here.'' Ontario Education and Training Minister Mr. Dave Cooke said he will be announcing programme and policy initiatives in response to the four-volume, 550-page report within two weeks.

The five-member commission was co-chaired by Ms Monique Begin and Mr. Gerald Caplan. Other members were Manisha Bharti, Avis Glaze, and Dennis Murphy.

Mr. Caplan said the "bottom line'' of the report was that "we want the vast majority of Ontario students to complete high school as literate, knowledgeable, creative and committed young men and women''.

"Our recommendations are geared to ensuring they know how to solve problems, and think logically and critically. They will be able to communicate articulately, work cooperatively, and most importantly, will have learned how to learn.''