Shadow Minister of Education Lovitta Foggo has reiterated calls to dismantle the middle school system following recent academic results.

However Education Minister Grant Gibbons has refuted a suggestion by Ms Foggo that the Hopkins Report recommended such a measure.

In a statement released this morning, Ms Foggo said the Progressive Labour Party wished to commend students “achieving at the highest standards” in grades published by the Ministry of Education last week.

“On a whole, the PLP is happy to highlight that the level of achievement is reminiscent of years gone by and it continues to demonstrate that, on average, our students are performing,” she said.

“However, at the middle school level, there remains a concern regarding outcomes which are reflective of a disconnect in how the three levels of the system interact. This adolescent period is difficult for students, but we must find a way to ensure increased results. We cannot lose our students at this crucial, intermediate phase.

“In March 2013, the PLP announced that, should it be returned to Government, it will dismantle the failed middle school system and return to primary and secondary schools only. This is a recommendation advanced by Dr Hopkins and a measure we believe will promote better alignment of the primary and senior curricula and will increase confidence in our public school system.

“This can also enhance positive peer pressure, as exposure to more senior student role models will exemplify the behaviours beneficial to school success for new students. We believe this will lead to improved performances for the age category of students currently in the middle schools.”

She said the party continues to encourage school staff and students to strive for excellence, saying: “Let’s continue to build roads to success for our students and for Bermuda; and let’s also have the courage to advance tough reforms to improve the school system so as to ensure that it is working as well as it needs to.”

Dr Gibbons responded to the statement this afternoon, saying the 2007 Review of Public Education in Bermuda by Dr Hopkins did not recommend dismantling the Island’s middle schools.

“It is clearly stated in the Report that the Review Team believed that the most appropriate reform model for the Bermudian Education System was one based on ‘reprofessionalization’ rather than ‘restructuring’ or some ‘market solutions’ such as vouchers,” he said. “The Review Team further advised that the real issue in the Education System at that time was ‘the quality of teaching and learning’ in the classroom.

“The Hopkins Report goes on to say that, ‘ ... the move to the middle schools was a mistake but the Review Team believes that a structural response would only cause more confusion and instability and leave the real issue — the quality of teaching and learning — untouched’.

“The Department of Education recognises the concerns raised by parents and the community at large regarding the middle schools, and as a result in-depth audits of the middle schools were conducted. Theses audits identified gaps and deficiencies in instruction and learning and resulted in targeted recommendations for both the Department of Education and Middle School leaders.”

He said the Department of Education has implemented a Middle School Transformation Plan for the 2014/2015 school academic year, made up of ten actions which will be taken to improve teaching and student learning over the next three years, including extensive investment in professional development for teachers.