Bermuda's schools.

Sen. Neletha Butterfield believes there could be hundreds of students, who over the last few years, have simply dropped out of the school system.

And she wants new Education Minister Tim Smith to take steps to tackle the problem.

Sen. Butterfield said without looking into the problem they were effectively storing up a major headache for the future of Bermuda.

Many students drifted out of school, some for many terms, and became involved in petty crime or put increased pressure on their families by being at home, she said.

She said she was concerned about the number of students who are not attending school and called for the Education Department to come forward with numbers.

Some hadn't been to school since the start of the 1997-1998 academic year, she added.

"When you go past a dozen, that is quite a lot -- this needs to be seriously looked into, our young people need to be in school,'' she said.

Sen. Butterfield's real concern was when the time came for those young people to go into the workplace, only to discover that they lacked the skills -- such as computers or literacy -- to succeed.