middle and senior secondary schools.

Government's Senate Leader Lynda Milligan-Whyte kicked off the debate, which continues the Budget debate, saying the key component of this year's budget was education.

"The focus of this Government has been and continues to be on the important issue of education,'' she said.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said Government had committed itself to spending $120 million on capital projects phased over the next ten years.

"This is a significant undertaking which reflects the level of commitment to a fundamental pillar of our society.'' In addition, said the Senator, the education department's budget had increased by $6.8 million in the budget to $58.6 million.

Among the reasons for the increase, said Sen. Milligan-Whyte, was an extra $1.2 million for 43 new teachers and teachers assistants.

On development of the curriculum, Sen. Milligan-Whyte said people told the Government that a large percentage of students were leaving school with no skills for the commercial sector.

The Middle School curriculum aimed to address that through core subjects of English, mathematics, sciences and social studies.

Other subjects will include computer studies, languages, health, education, economics and accounting. Libraries were also being revamped and computers installed.

On the senior secondary curriculum, writers and academics are currently working on the finer details of Berkeley Institute's curriculum.

However CedarBridge, which is due to open in September, will offer a courses ranging from the sciences, to business studies to drama, dance and the visual arts.

In order to evaluate how well students are doing, it is intended to drop the current California Aptitude Test.

Sen. Milligan-Whyte said primary school children were ahead of their US counterparts, but secondary schools performance needed improving and a new standard of testing would be introduced.

Neletha Butterfield , the Progressive Labour Party's Senate education spokeswoman, said it was important that goals were set for the year 2000, such as in computer literacy.

She said she was also concerned that 97 students did not pass their Bermuda Secondary School Certificate and of the 300 that did last year only 14 received honours.

"We should be able to get all our resources together and we should be able to do something about this minority group that is not making the education department sound very good.

"We need to utilise all the resources to help some of these young people who are causing problems in our schools,'' said Sen. Butterfield.

However she added that there were also positive sides to education and it was time to publicise the good taking place.

Sen. Butterfield said some progress had been made on meeting the needs of physically challenged students and gifted students, but more work, especially more computer integration of classrooms, was needed.

She also called on the compulsory school age to be lowered to age four, and for Government to implement an Island-wide standard for pre-schools.

Independent Senator Dr. Walwyn Hughes spoke of the community's anxiety of the cost of education restructuring, but said now that the path has been taken the community has to come together to make them work.

He also expressed concern over growing Ministry expenses, in particular the hiring of 29 new staff: "The public is looking for reasonable expenditures with good results,'' he said.

With CedarBridge Academy soon to come on line, Senator Hughes also emphasised the need for quality curriculum -- adapted to suit Bermuda's needs -- and internationally accepted testing so Bermudians can truly measure up to the rest of the world.

Senator Milton Scott (PLP) agreed, saying that while he was initially opposed to the idea of a "mega-school,'' now that its a reality it's time for the community to pull together and make it work.

Bermudians are spending about $14,000 per year per child on education and the most should be made of it.

Violence poses the greatest threat to the quality of education, especially in the senior schools, he said, calling for a universal code of (school) conduct.

Early intervention is needed throughout the system to identify and moderate behaviour. He called for counsellors in every school and more psychologists and psychiatrists brought on staff.

He also called for controls on television violence and more staff development to help deal with the issue.

Senator Albert Jackson (Ind.) followed, saying while he wasn't against the medium of television or indeed the Internet, he would like to see more control over what school children watch.

Turning to tourism, Senator Gary Pitman (UBP) reviewed Tourism's $31.7 million expenditure in light of the global industry, estimated at more than $3-trillion and growing.

Bermudians he said, need understand the forces at play which impact the local industry. "If we are going to regain our competitive edge we need to understand the signals.'' Government's plan is to rebuild the industry and the Senator said, despite lacklustre air arrivals over 1996 -- up .8 percent -- there were signs of progress.

The Department of Tourism is forging new partnerships with all players in the industry, partnerships such as the Visitor Industry Partnership, the Freeman Project, and the Monitor Group.

Meanwhile plans to increase Bermuda's profile as a watersport and dive centre have already generated increased coverage in major US-based dive magazines.

Government was also vigorously pursuing new air links, especially in the US south east and Miami.

He also said that despite all its controversy, the "Let Yourself Go'' campaign -- concentrated in the Boston and New York City markets -- appears to have paid off, with air arrivals from those two gateways up about six percent.

The department was also targetting family vacationers with the Camp Bermuda campaign, and has secured the services of the Crayola Crayon company to manufacture Bermuda coloured crayons and a colouring book for promotional purposes.

Other initiatives include the UK and European "Find Yourself in Bermuda'' campaign, which is geared to appeal to those seeking physical and mental relaxation, he said.

Sen. Terry Lister (PLP) said tourists often choose Bermuda because of its beauty and the friendliness of its people.

But he said Bermudians are partly to blame for the less than adequate performance of the tourist industry because of their attitude problem.

"I know we are spending $31 million on the Ministry of Tourism,'' he said, "but it will come to nought unless Bermudians feel it will work for them personally.'' Mr. Lister pointed to the lack of promotion for Bermudians in the upper reaches of management in the major hotels.

And he said he was concerned that middle managers at the Southampton Princess were seeking union recognition.

While accepting their right to join the BIU or any other union if that is their wish, he said what was really disconcerting was their need to want to band together to protect themselves from senior management.

"We have to talk about this,'' he said.

Turning to visitor arrivals, Mr. Lister pointed out that 1996 air arrivals were the fourth worse since 1970.