Raising graduation standards at the Berkeley Institute will produce better students, board chairman Craig Bridgewater said. He said the school will work closely with pupils to help them attain the 2.25 grade point average (GPA) that will be required in 2013.

And he expressed a personal hope that CeadarBridge Academy, the Island's only other public senior school, would follow suit.

"From the board's perspective, we're always looking to raise standards," Mr. Bridgewater said. "Our philosophy has always been that whatever the Ministry of Education put out is considered the minimum that we would adhere to do. We have the right to aim above.

"As an example of that we're saying in order to graduate from Berkeley Institute, we think the GPA should be 2.25. If we're going to go to new standards, that should pull everybody else along.

"We believe that people either leave and they go to work or university or college. Having to aim for a 50 percent to 2.0, that's not going to get you to college."

Berkeley's board of governors last week said the school's graduation requirement would be raised from a GPA of 2.0 to 2.25 in three years' time.

It would be "impractical" to implement it immediately when students now in the school have been working towards a 2.0, Mr. Bridgewater said.

The change will take effect in June of 2013. The Ministry of Education requires students attain a GPA of 2.0 in their Bermuda School Certificate exams to be eligible for graduation. Berkeley also insists students meet its Berkeley Institute Graduate Certificate requirements.

Asked if he thought CedarBridge would follow Berkeley's lead, Mr. Bridgewater said: "I don't think they can. I don't think they have a separate standard for graduating from CedarBridge. So they will have to make that change. Hopefully by doing this, people will follow suit."

He continued: "I think it's going to result in students graduating at higher standards. Because now, they have something else to strive for. If you give somebody a benchmark of 40 percent, they will get 40 percent.

"When I went through Berkeley we had to get 60 percent [in order to graduate]. If you raise the standard, if people have a higher standard to get to, it will raise the quality of student outcomes."

He added that students who failed to graduate because they didn't meet the requirements would have a second chance in summer school. "Students have to qualify for summer school so they have to get at least 50 percent. If they qualify, they would have the opportunity."

Mr. Bridgewater said he hasn't heard any feedback about the standards being raised as yet.

The Ministry of Education's recently released five-year strategic plan for public education lays out several changes in the coming years. They begin with the implementation of the Cambridge International Curriculum in September.

According to Mr. Bridgewater, the curriculum also demands a 2.0 GPA for graduation. "We can't afford to wait until it's all sorted out. Some people might question the timing of it. It's a while away and we don't know what it looks like. I honestly think we're going to see some change this time. I have a lot of respect for Darren Johnston as the [board of education] chairman. What he's been able to accomplish, he should be lauded because we haven't got that far."