Five primary schools could close and a new senior school be built as the Ministry of Education examines drastic measures to improve student performance.

While the changes are still in the preliminary phase, some of them could be implemented as early as September.

The five schools on the possible chopping block are East End Primary, Prospect Primary, Gilbert Institute, Heron Bay Primary and Dalton E. Tucker Primary.

Students from East End would be split between Francis Patton and St. David's Primary, Prospect students would go between Northlands, Victor Scott, Harrington Sound and Elliot, Gilbert Institute and Heron Bay students would be sent to Paget Primary and Purvis Primary and Dalton E. Tucker students would go between Somerset Primary, West End and Port Royal.

And with the proposed school closures, 28 teachers would be jobless.

An Education spokesperson explained how a new senior school would work.

"Having multiple senior schools allows different pathways for students. Schools that focus on technology, performing arts, a sports academy, a gifted and talented school that provides the students academic programmes that end earlier and then go on to sports focused activities. We could offer a business and hospitality focused school.

"All of that is on the table right now. We have to look at some bold changes that are going to result in better outcomes for our students."

Also in the proposals, the Ministry would consolidate the smaller primary schools and move preschools into buildings the Government owns.

Another option would be to have primary schools run from P1 to P7 and do away with middle schools.

The spokesperson said: "The Board of Education and the Department have been meeting with stakeholders for several months now developing the five-year strategic plan. One of the things that they're looking at is what do the stakeholders want out of our public schools system because we're looking at setting goals for student achievement.

"Some of the things that we hear are that people are supportive of the primary school system. Those seem to go well. We have good retention at the primary level. Where we get to see concerns are at the middle school level.

"We see student performance levels dipping from P6 to M1 then M3 to S1. We also see students leaving the public school system at the highest numbers at the middle school level.

"So given all of that, we are looking at all of the options that are available to use to improve student outcomes. People who have been involved in reforms say just changing the curriculum won't change student outcomes so we are looking at all of the options. The how part is to improve teaching and learning and improve leadership at the school level.

"This document was a preliminary decision on how we could do that by reorganising schools. We have started looking at consolidation of schools. We have some primary schools that are smaller, about 100 students or less."

The Ministry official said it was not planned to release the information so early but it was given to this newspaper after it was leaked into the public domain yesterday.

The spokesperson said teachers and principals are worried about what will happen to the staff if the schools are shut.

"We don't have these answers at this point. People see it as a positive for the students. Education needs to become a more customer centric organisation. And our customers are the children. At this point, we're trying to make sure that the public understands what we're looking at and what's on the table. The feedback has been positive.

"We're looking to do it as quickly as we can. If we can do it for September 2010, that's what we'll push for. If it's too much to do for this first year, we'll push it off for the next year. We have had support to do it as quickly as possible. We welcome any feedback from the public."

E-mail your views to news@royalgazette.bm