Bank of Bermuda CEO Philip Butterfield yesterday said Bermuda had to do something about the crisis of confidence in the public education system.

Mr. Butterfield, who is chairman of the Board of Education, said he was concerned that Bermuda “apparently finds it acceptable that 40 percent of schoolchildren here are in private schools”.

He made his comments as guest speaker at the Bermuda Employers' Council's AGM.

Mr. Butterfield - a Bermudian who has spent much of his adult life outside of Bermuda having only returned to the Island in 2000 as the bank's chief administration officer - said the rate of private education seen here was one of the highest in the world and that it could result in a rift between classes.

“The deepening divisions between those in the private system, with predominately middle class students, and the public system, with predominately working class students, is being left to become a basic, almost natural fact of life here”.

Although Mr. Butterfield said it was unlikely that there would ever be enough qualified Bermudians to fill the 8,000 or so jobs held by expatriates, it was important that the Island ask itself whether the disproportionate amount of senior positions held by guest workers should continue.

Mr. Butterfield said “getting education right is fundamental to Bermuda's future success. Education is the singular most important element to improving one's chances for a better life,” he said.

But he added that the weight of responsibility does not rest solely with Government's school system but also in large part, with parents.

“While we absolutely must demand that the Government provides the necessary resources to teachers and students within the public system. At the same time - and this is critical - we must also demand the best from our children.

“Our children must be made to understand that they are expected to achieve in the classroom, so that they can achieve in life,” the father of two daughters now working and studying in the US, said.

Mr. Butterfield - who said with a smile - that he was well aware that his current standing as Board of Education Chairman could change, recognised that there were initiatives aiming to improve the public education system.

But he concluded: “There is still a lot of work to be done, much of it in our homes and under the responsibility of the parents.

“We cannot afford to be complacent and leave this task to the schools or international business scholarships alone. We must have a collaborative effort to achieve success.”