Educator hiring up for review amid recruitment delays
Hiring practices under the Ministry of Education are to be reviewed amid recruitment challenges that have left some signature learning programmes short of qualified teachers.
The Royal Gazette reported this month that the engineering strand of the Stem programme at CedarBridge Academy has been without a dedicated qualified teacher since it was introduced in September 2022.
That article said that the cosmetology strand of the Trades and Profession Learning SLP at the school was also understaffed.
One public school teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, said that pupils could fall short on their credits, while the parent of a child on the engineering course, who also wished to remain unnamed, said their child was missing out on several hours of SLP tuition every week.
Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, said last week that there were also challenges in hiring a physics teacher to deliver part of an SLP.
Staff staged a sit-out at the start of October in response to the issues, and it was claimed that teachers of non-signature programmes were stepping in to teach components of the SLPs.
It was rumoured that a vote of no confidence was planned against Kenneth Caesar, the principal of the school, for not submitting staffing requirements to the Government in a timely manner.
However, Mr Rabain and Mr Caesar, who spoke to the Gazette at CedarBridge Academy last week, said that recruitment fell under the combined responsibility of the principal, the school’s board of governors, the Department of Education and the Department of Employee Development, which carries out human resources duties.
They explained that the school must identify the number of staff required and inform the DoE and DOED, which recruits for staff.
Details of the selected recruits are then sent back to the school, where the principal and board conduct interviews and make final selections.
The Berkeley Institute, the island’s other signature school, is aided and therefore has the autonomy to hire its own staff.
Mr Rabain said: “It has come to the ministry’s attention the difficulty with the recruitment process and that is something that has been discussed with the DoE and the DOED of how we should look at different ways to recruit, especially these difficult-to-find teachers.
“These are conversations that are taking place now, how it can be more efficient. That is something we promise to work out.”
He said there had been recruitment efforts for CedarBridge but they were unsuccessful.
However, both he and Mr Caesar said they were confident that the affected students, about 40 in total, will still be able to attain at least the minimum required 24 credits to graduate with a Bermuda Signature School Diploma.
Mr Rabain added: “I will not say that there have not been challenges of recruiting teachers in certain areas but I do stand by the school, the principal and staff at the school in that our students are still gaining the knowledge with having these programmes in place.
“I am confident that they will all reach the credits that are needed.
“We won’t see the first SLP graduates for another two years and so there is time to catch up.”
Mr Caesar added: “In engineering, we have had some persons come in to assist and work in other aspects of the curriculum.
“It is really difficult to get someone to come in and do the entire curriculum, that has been our challenge.”
A public school teacher told the Gazette: “The regular teachers are subbing for all the placeholders that exist. They are tired.
“They are doing their full-time job and have to cover during their breaks.
“The issue will become, when the students go through S4, they won’t have enough credits because they have not had the teachers in the classes.”
The parent of the CedarBridge student said: “Every day my child is missing classes.
“They could have told us before the school year started. My child is bright, if we had been informed, we could have made a decision to go elsewhere.”
Mr Caesar said there was a qualified cosmetology teacher at the school but an additional part-time teacher was needed for the course, on which about 60 students are enrolled.
The extra cosmetology teacher has been recruited and will begin after the fall holiday, he said, and a temporary engineering teacher was also expected to be in place after the break while a permanent candidate is sought.
However, he confirmed: “We have not had a fully qualified teacher in engineering over the time that it has started.
“That is one area that the minister made mention is a challenge to recruit but we are in the process of having them recruited.
“We are in heavy evaluation of the course. What my remit will be immediately is to work between myself, the DoE and the DOED to revisit, look at those applications, do our interviews and see if those persons are the best fit.
“Then it will be our intention to bring someone on board. Over the next few years we will re-evaluate our programmes, look at our curriculum, our pacing, etc, to ensure that whatever programme is set out for them, they will receive the credits that they need.”
Of the 24 credits required for graduation, 7.5, or about 30 per cent, come from signature programmes for those enrolled in SLPs.
Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, stood by the Education Reform Unit as well as the Innovation Unit Australia/New Zealand, and said he believes they have fulfilled their remit.
He said: “The ERU is responsible for advancing the education reform and the processes of how that is implemented in the system.
“When it comes to recruitment of teachers, once the schedule has been done and the students are going to be here, the school then determines what teachers are going to be needed and that is submitted to be recruited for.”
Mr Rabain added that the ERU provided support to schools as reform takes place.
Speaking on Innovation Unit, which has been so far been awarded about $6m to carry out its duties, he added: “The contracts have deliverables which are required to be submitted prior to payments being issued.
“If we are still issuing payments then they are fulfilling the remit of their contract.
“When you ask is there concrete evidence of the work that they have done, remember, we hired them to be change management managers.
“If anyone asks what is the proof that has worked, we have opened two signature schools, we have opened two parish primary schools, we are opening two parish primary schools in 2025 and we are opening another signature in 2025.
“That is the proof that we are getting the job accomplished. Absolutely they are fulfilling their remit.”
Mr Rabain said “virtually” all of the other SLPs and their strands were staffed.
Speaking to the meetings held by CedarBridge staff earlier this month, the minister said progress was being made.
He explained: “We have met with the Bermuda Union of Teachers and worked out a pathway forward where union reps of the school, myself, leadership and board meet on a biweekly basis to review the issues that have been mentioned.”
He said the BUT had not communicated to the ministry that there was a vote of no confidence in Mr Caesar.
Mr Caesar said a system was in place and, guided by the collective bargaining agreement, teachers were not expected to use their breaks or preparation time to cover for lessons.
Both he and Mr Rabain said that there had been many positive developments in the signature learning programmes, making reference to strands such as creative technologies, for which pupils had art displayed at the annual public schools competition that could be viewed on a cell phone in 3D, and automotive trades, where a student built a car that was displayed at the Bermuda Day Parade.
Mr Caesar added: “I had the opportunity to work in Washington DC during education reform.
“It was difficult but 20 years later you see how it has turned around and changed.”
Kenneth Caesar, the principal of CedarBridge Academy, said the school had dealt with some unrest among a few students earlier this month.
A number of sources told The Royal Gazette that about four fights broke out on campus when staff met during the afternoon to discuss recruitment challenges, with one pupil being escorted away in a police vehicle, and an egg being thrown in the school’s theatre.
Mr Caesar said: “During the time of the meeting there was an altercation and security was able to resolve it within a few seconds.
“The lights did go off [in the theatre] and unfortunately one egg was thrown during that time.
“We have developed a great relationship with the Bermuda Police Service. We would often ask that after school time they can patrol our campus and the areas our students are leaving to go home just for safety reasons.
“I want to reassure that a student was put in a police car to ensure the student was safe. The police do help to maintain the safety of our campus.”
He added that it was important not to forget the positive developments at the school, highlighting a senior school open house where students showcased Stem and trades course work.
Mr Caesar said: “We look forward to our new students coming to CedarBridge Academy where we will give them the opportunity to see what it looks like.
“It is not for show, this is what is happening in their classrooms every single day.”
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