Banker Philip Butterfield has spoken of his high hopes for Bermuda's public education system after taking over as chairman of the Board of Education at the start of the year.

With aims of helping to raise standards, tackle discipline issues, and lifting the bar on performance, he said he shared the same objective as Minister Paula Cox - to make Bermuda's schools among the best in the world.

In the long term, he said he would like to see more students and parents opting for the public system over private education, and said in order for that to happen, improvements needed to be made and confidence gained in the community.

But first, Mr. Butterfield said, a thorough assessment of the public system needed to be carried out to gauge where the Island's schools stood.

That, he said, could involve both local and overseas experts being used to assess the system in the coming months.

Education Minister Paula Cox said the idea of the assessment was to sit back and review the situation and take stock, paying particular attention to the curriculum.

Mr. Butterfield, who is chief operating officer at the Bank of Bermuda, said: "When asked if I would serve in this capacity, I had several reasons for saying 'yes'. There was no basis to even consider not doing it.

"I'm a product of the public education system. There was no doubt in my mind that I should not find a way to contribute to its success.

"The conclusion I had reached after a short conversation with the Minister was that there was much to do. I was looking forward to the opportunity to engage in what I think is the most important activity in the community - education.

"Education is the vehicle that everyone should be able to utilise ... and this Government has made it clear that it views that path as an important path and to make it available to all of our children on the Island."

Ms Cox said one of the recommendations out of the education audit was that the Board of Education was "neither fish nor fowl".

She said: "There needed to be a clear mandate and mission."

And she said she believed the board should be goal and action-orientated. Ms Cox said she saw the board's role as not only working with the business community, but all stakeholders, including parents and the Bermuda Union of Teachers.

She added: "I feel it's important that the board is a real activist board."

Mr. Butterfield said he believed his experience in the banking and managerial world would serve him well on the board, which acts as an advisor to the ministry.

He added: "We (the board and the Ministry) have spent some time thinking about how radical we would like to be. At the bank we are about change. We are not about maintaining the status quo."

And he said although change may be sometimes needed in the education department, it will be done in conjunction with the best constructive advice and care. Mr. Butterfield said once the board and the Ministry looked at all the options, including the assessment, he said they had objectives that they wished to concentrate on.

He added: "We are interested in standards; we are interested in performance; we are interested in the standard of discipline; we are interested in curriculum; and we are interested in making sure that our facilities are world class."

But the new chairman admitted he was concerned by the amount of children in private education on the Island.

He added: "I'm personally troubled by this. Close to 40 percent of the eligible school population on the Island attends private institutions. There is not anywhere on the planet where the numbers are that high." Mr. Butterfield said he did not want a "we, they" society. And he said the figures were unacceptable to him personally and as an employer.

"The fix is making the public system better. I want to give parents a real dilemma or choice."

Mr. Butterfield said he was also very keen to build bridges between education and the business sector, and to see further programmes where schools, teachers and students had mutually beneficial relationships with companies and executives.

He said, as an employer, he had seen many capable students coming out of the public system, but said he would like to see them more capable.

And asked what had impressed him about the public system, Mr. Butterfield said it was by far the people.

He said: "I think the genuine, caring support that I have found in teachers and administration, and the seriousness with which professionals in this community take their roles. I think everybody who is involved in the process wants it to work the best it possibly can.

"People are not in it for the ride. They have very positive, constructive attitudes."

And on the bad side, he said: "There has been nothing unpleasant or shocking, but there are always opportunities for us to do it better, and that is what I want us to do."

Other members of the Board of Education are: Jeff Conyers, Walton Brown, Constance McHardy, Deanna Durham, Valerie Dill, Pandora Wright, Larry Mussenden, Edwin Wilson, Bryant Richards and Esther Bean.