Veteran educator Marion Robinson yesterday charged that students were still divided along socio-economic lines.

"It is an uncomfortable reality to confront, but there are still two Bermudas,'' the former Education Permanent Secretary told Hamilton Rotarians.

"The students in Government schools often come from families where grandmothers are still in the workforce and have little time to devote to caring for young children, let alone care for them. Students often come from single-parent families where the single parent has to hold down two jobs to maintain no more than an adequate standard of living.'' Consequently, she said, they have little time to devote to their children's reading abilities.

Addressing the topic of literacy, at the Rotarian's weekly luncheon at the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, Dr. Robinson sought to define the term more clearly.

Quoting from the Ministry of Education's Literacy Committee, she defined literacy as "the ability to read and comprehend written materials including reports, documents, displays and charts and to use that information to solve problems, evaluate situations and make decisions''.

"It extends to the ability to communicate information orally and in writing,'' Dr. Robinson pointed out.

Having established the elusive quality of the term of literacy, she then touched on the importance of how it could be adequately measured in regard to student scholastic achievement.

"Much of the concern that has been expressed recently about standards of literacy among students in Government schools has been based upon the results of a test called the Stanford Diagnostic test,'' she said. "Any of us who have been involved in the administration of various tests, whether they are commercially produced, like the Stanford, or whether they are based upon our local curriculum, recognise that it is impossible to design any test which measures all that students know or can do.'' She added that there was an overlooked distinction between performance and ability in students.

This, she said, was critical because school placement, promotion or transition were decided on test results.

"We have to be aware that the results often provide little or no information about the process by which students produce their results,'' Dr. Robinson said.

She added that though some students have legitimate physiological or neurological problems, some students simply did not take the test process seriously enough to score up to their abilities.

Dr. Robinson recalled that a former CedarBridge Academy student wrote to The Royal Gazette admitting that the results of the test did not adequately reflect the abilities of the students because they did not take the test seriously enough. The claim was substantiated by CedarBridge principal Kalmar Richards, she added. By stressing the vital nature of the test, Mrs. Richards was able to ensure that the students took the test seriously in the future.

Dr. Robinson contrasted the modern age of television with the age of authors like Jane Austen, where people read silently or aloud to each other as a form of entertainment.

She also quoted Denis Felenstein, a senior secondary school inspector of an inner London Education Authority and former consultant of education.

He said: "An effective school is one which responds sensitively and flexibly to the needs of every child.'' Magistrate criticises lawyer Hall An acting magistrate criticised a lawyer yesterday for not informing the court he would not be there, resulting in a trial being postponed.

Tyrone Chin said it was "usual courtesy'' for a lawyer to notify the court if he was unable to attend.

Mr. Chin spoke out after he had to postpone the trial of Quincy Stanley Brangman because his lawyer Julian Hall did not appear.

Eight Police officers appeared at Magistrates' Court to give evidence against Brangman, 21, who is accused of driving while impaired, driving dangerously, failing to stop, refusing to give a breath sample, using offensive words, violently resisting arrest, and assaulting a Police officer.

Brangman, of Cooks Hill Lane, Sandys Parish, said he discovered on Monday that Mr. Hall was off the Island, but said he did not tell the court.

Mr. Chin said: "It is usual courtesy to the court that your lawyer is to write to the court saying that it can't go ahead because he is off the Island so that witnesses do not have to be called.'' Mr. Chin also asked Brangman, who denies the charges, why he had not alerted the court when he discovered Mr. Hall was not available.

Mr. Hall told the Appeals Court last Thursday that he had to leave that day for England because his mother-in-law had died.

Brangman's trial was rescheduled for March 14. Mr. Chin warned Brangman that the trial would go ahead whether or not Mr. Hall appeared.

EDUCATION ED