LITERACY skills of students entering the Adult Education School were improving, thanks to initiatives in the public high-schools, but maths skills were almost non-existent, the programme director said last night.

The Adult Education School, located on Brunswick Street in Hamilton, provides an opportunity for people to receive their high school diploma if they have been unable to make it in the regular school system, for whatever reason.

Julia Beach, the school director, reflected on the programme this week as 72 students prepare for their hard-won high school graduation next Thursday.

"For incoming students, things were bad five or six years ago in terms of literacy," said Ms Beach. "With the literacy programme at CedarBridge Academy, things are a little better. But still, so many of the students are not reading well. Some of them have never written an essay until they come here.

"And the maths skills are very poor. I don't know why that is. Many students are falling through the cracks, that's for sure."

But Ms Beach, who has been at the Adult Education School for 22 years having started as a volunteer before becoming full-time in 1983, added: "The computer skills are much better. With the XL Education Initiative in the schools, most students are now computer literate."

The Adult Education School holds a graduation ceremony only once every two years, so some students taking part in the ceremony actually passed their General Education Diploma (GED) test last year. Sixty-three of the graduates came to the school from CedarBridge Academy, 19 came from the Berkeley Institute, 16 students were from other Government schools, eight went to the Bermuda Institute, three were from Mount St. Agnes, four were from Warwick Academy and one was from Saltus Grammar School. There were also a few students who were from abroad or who were mature.

One of the graduates is 35-year-old Tanya Symonds who was forced to leave high school at the age of 15 when she became pregnant. Until then she was a good student, particularly in the area of maths. Her leaving came as a tremendous blow to herself and her family.

She is now the mother of four, and recently married.

"It wasn't a difficult decision to come back to get my GED," said Mrs. Symonds. "Life made it very easy. Doors were slamming in my face. It makes your self-esteem low.

"Even housekeeping, you need a high-school diploma to make someone's bed. Someone needs to tell these high school students what the real world is like. There are so many offers out there to become an addict or alcoholic. When you're young take your educational opportunities while you can."

Mrs. Symonds said while she was studying for the programme, her younger children saw her with her books, and they began to study also.

"My youngest child saw me studying all the time, now that's what she does. She's a very good student. That's all she ever saw me doing. That makes me feel good."

Mrs. Symonds now plans to study law and become a defence attorney. She also wrote a book while at the Adult Education School called Through the Fire and Flood To Be With God.

On the other side of the courtroom may be fellow Adult Education School classmate Ke'Andre' Martin, 18. Mr. Martin is to be the valedictorian during the ceremony.

"I haven't written my speech yet," he said. "I'll think of something."

Mr. Martin plans to study criminal and divorce law. He wants to become a prosecutor.

"I was at Warwick Academy before," he said, "but me and the school didn't agree. I left of my own free will. I did my GED here. The Adult Education School gave me a lot of freedom. I do my best work when I don't have any pressure on me. It's a nice atmosphere. I just didn't have any motivation at Warwick Academy.

"I am now at the Bermuda College. I am doing the arts & science programme so I can go into law." Another student, Stephanie Powell, 20, said she went to the Adult Education School because after living abroad for nine years, she found it difficult to get back into the Bermuda education system.

"I came back to Bermuda and I went to Mount St. Agnes. I had two years left there," Miss Powell said. "After four months they asked me to leave because my grades weren't high enough.

"The principal said the best thing to do, since I was almost 16, was to go to the Adult Education Centre. The main reason why I didn't complete MSA was because I suffer from dyslexia. The curriculum was a little too advanced. I have been moving from school to school all my life. Adjusting was difficult because of the learning disability.

"I am weak in certain areas and I don't test very well because of time pressure. My comprehension is a little bit slower. I need extra time to process information through my brain."

Miss Powell is now studying computer engineering at Niagra College in Welland, Canada.

"I would say about half of our students go on to the Bermuda College or away to college after completing our programme," said Ms Beach. "Others go directly into the workforce. They couldn't have done that too easily without their GED. Even if they don't go directly to college, they will in the next year or two. A lot come back to take the Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT)."

She said this year many parents were unsure whether to send their children to the Adult Education School because of the new year added on to CedarBridge Academy and the Berkeley Institute.

"There was a lot of indecision from the parents," she said. "When they were calling me in December they didn't know where the extra year would be like. A number decided to bring their children now whether then wait until September.

"So we had a number of kids coming in January. They have all done very well, and have all passed. If they were still at CedarBridge or Berkeley they'd still be there with an extra year ahead of them."

Ms Beach says the Adult Education School has a more relaxed approach than traditional Bermuda schools. There are never more than nine students to a class which allows for more individual attention.