Business leaders and school principals met yesterday to discuss ways of turning around the Island's education system.

And the forum — a joint initiative between the Association of Bermuda International Companies (ABIC) and the Ministry of Education — opened with a speech from turnaround expert Michael McGavick.

Mr. McGavick, chief executive officer of Bermuda-based business insurer XL Capital Ltd., has led the company to a dramatic reversal of fortunes which saw it bounce back from a dismal 2008 to be the biggest climber on the S&P 500 Index last year. Previously he led a positive transformation of Seattle-based insurer Safeco.

Yesterday's discussion, at the headquarters of Ace Bermuda, was led by a team invited by ABIC from the University of Virginia's Partnership for Leaders in Education programme, which is a joint initiative of the Darden School of Business and the Curry School of Education at UVA.

Education Permanent Secretary Kevin Monkman and Commissioner of Education Wendy McDonnell also attended the event.

Education Minister El James said he was excited to see business leaders and school principals together in one room discussing education. He believed principals would be keen to go back to the classroom and inspire their teachers with some the energy generated by the forum.

Asked about the "turnaround" theme, Mr. James said: "I don't care how good you are, there is always going to be a time when you need to take a good look at yourself and do a little better."

Mr. McGavick said he had homed in on the actions necessary to achieve a corporate turnaround that could also be applied to the education system.

"People who are part of the organisation have to accept there is a need for dramatic change and that results have to get better," Mr. McGavick said.

"There is a need for leaders to show that they are willing to do the hard things that are necessary for organisations to perform better."

It was also important for leaders to communicate consistently and to plan beyond making their organisations a better version of their current selves and rather to ensure that improvement continued to keep pace with the ever-rising standards of the future.

Mr. McGavick said he'd been impressed by the discussion at yesterday's event and described attendees as positive and engaged.

He added that he had also been involved in efforts to improve education in Chicago and Seattle, two cities where he previously lived. "The education system is run on a 19th century business model and clearly needs to see improvement to meet the needs of today," Mr. McGavick said.

"Education is an important issue in any community, but here in Bermuda it's a bit more pointed because of the talent necessary to fuel these companies."

Ms McDonnell said Mr. McGavick spoke about his experience of turning around a company with challenges and that education also faced challenges.

She added that "nobody was telling anybody what to do" and that the event had been a coming together of business and education leaders to discuss the addressing of challenges.

ABIC executive director Richard Winchell said education on the Island was the top concern of CEOs, according to a survey conducted last year by ABIC.

He added that business and education were connected, and that a failure to provide the educated workforce necessary to drive Bermuda's knowledge-based economy would have serious implications for the community.

Mr. Winchell said he hoped the forum would be the first of many opportunities for dialogue between school and business leaders.