PLP Senators yesterday gave a glowing report on Government?s education record.

As the Budget debate continued in the Upper House yesterday, Senator defended funding on education.

He said the Ministry of Education was committed to ?continuing to generate the confidence in public education?.

?There is a buzz in Bermuda about public education,? he said.

He added that money had been allocated to education programmes so that public education would be the ?first choice? for Bermudians.

Since 1999 the Ministry had spent $500 million on education, he said.

Programmes such as the Bermuda?s Education Strategic Team (BEST) Initiative are receiving $20,000 for each of its seven initiatives.

Sen. Roban said that for every bad story about public education in the media there were at least ten positive stories.

The Education Amendment Act is a good way of getting parents involved in students schooling. He said: ?Research shows that parents or adults who take an active interest in their children going to school the children benefit.?

He said that although people may think the Act only targets single black parents are wrong.

?The Ministry has no reason to target any one in any particular group except those parents who don?t feel they need to pay attention to what their children are doing,? he added.

B.TEC has provided public schools with ?first-class technology? with an average of one computer for every four students in the system.

@EDITRULE:?Coverage continues in Monday?s paper.