New Education Minister Neletha Butterfield has hit back at criticism of public schools from Governor Sir John Vereker ? but promised a major overhaul of the way students are assessed in the future.

Sir John last week highlighted the low numbers of pupils graduating from Bermuda?s two public senior schools and questioned the quality of the Bermuda School Certificate (BSC) in a speech last month.

He urged Government to spend more on education to ensure a better and more productive workforce.

Ms Butterfield told she did not want to respond to the comments directly, but added: ?I would caution against broad generalisations and the use of incomplete, uncorroborated or inaccurate statistics.?

Sir John claimed that two-thirds of males were leaving the public school system without a BSC but Ms Butterfield said: ?This number has been cited as coming from the media, yet is not supported by concrete evidence.

?In fact, a global trend suggests that males around the world are not doing well academically and that fewer males are entering higher education. Bermuda, of course, is already addressing that trend.?

This year?s official graduation rate for Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy has not yet been released but was just 53 percent overall last year.

Ms Butterfield, who was yesterday continuing her tour of public schools, said she had been impressed by the dedication of staff she had spoken to and their commitment to improving student performance.

She said: ?It is a credit to our educators and Ministry (of Education) staff that they are fully committed to meeting all the hurdles standing in the way of that objective.

?There are of course challenges and we appreciate that there are concerns among the public about student achievement.?

The Minister said possession of a BSC was a ?valid credential, has international currency and has allowed many public school graduates to move on to further education locally and internationally?.

But she admitted that other assessments currently carried out in schools were not giving teachers or the Ministry enough information about students? attainment levels.

Ms Butterfield, who opened an alternative learning centre in the basement of her own home, said the much-criticised Terra Nova tests ? which allow Bermudian children to be measured against their North American peers ? were not enough.

She pledged that from 2008 an additional end-of-year test would be introduced, allowing public school attainment to be compared to standards in private schools on the Island. A programme of daily assessments for children is also to be brought in.

Mrs. Butterfield said that these ? known as formative tests ? were currently determined by individual schools.

?Moving forward, however, the Ministry will require consistent formative assessments in all public schools,? she said.

?This will help to ensure all students, no matter where they attend, are being taught the same skills and knowledge and are tested against the same local standards.

?Those children with severe challenges ? cognitive, physical or due to a lack of English language fluency ? will be assessed differently according to their specific challenges.?

The Minister said it was clear that there were weaknesses in the collection of pupil data and that she had instructed civil servants to improve the system.

She said that in the meantime the Ministry was reluctant to release ?absolute statements? about student performance and would ?continue to be guarded and cautious in its release of information?.

?We wish to protect our young people and not have them branded inappropriately,? she said.

Mrs. Butterfield, who talked to teachers and pupils at St. Paul?s Preschool, Gilbert Institute, Paget Primary and Purvis Primary yesterday, added: ?The public should bear in mind that the Bermuda public school system is fully inclusive and comprehensive. Our students come to us with a range of abilities. However, students with supportive parents and educators have every opportunity to succeed in a broad range of fields.?