An independent education authority for Bermuda’s schools is under consideration, the House of Assembly heard last Friday.

Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, said the Government was exploring a recommendation made in the Future State Report from the BermudaFirst advisory group.

Mr Rabain said: “After reading the report and discussing at length with the BermudaFirst representatives from the education committee and reviewing the recommendations, it is clear to us, it is clear to me, that some decisions need to be made and these decisions will indeed be difficult ones.

“To this end, the recommendation of an authority is under consideration by this Government.

“Breaking the status quo of the last 25 years is important, but difficult with the challenges that we have to face, challenges like repurposing schools and realigning our infrastructure.

“We must recognise that perhaps it’s time for these types of decisions to be removed from Opposition political op-eds, to be removed from ministers standing in front of microphones, to a state where a non-political entity can and will move forward to do what is best for our children.”

The Future State Report — commissioned by David Burt, the Premier — was unveiled in September.

It recommended the creation of an “independent authority for public education that is responsible for the performance management of educators and researching and implementing a holistic public education system ... that facilitates optimum student success”.

However, Mr Rabain said that any suggestion that an education authority would mirror the Bermuda Tourism Authority model was “far from the truth”.

He added that the move was not a foregone conclusion but was “being discussed”.

The education minister pointed out that the “bulk” of recommendations on schooling in the Future State report were covered in Plan 2022, the Department of Education’s strategy for public schools.

He said it was well known that the Government intended to phase out middle schools and explained that his ministry was evaluating submissions made in response to a request for proposals from local and overseas organisations to help reform the school system.

The minister added: “While our plans to phase out middle schools and revert to a two-tier system are in train, this cannot be done without the uncomfortable conversation that needs to be had around the repurposing of our entire school system.”

He said: “This needs to be done to allow us as a country to provide our students with the best schools, the best teachers and ultimately the best chances of getting everything that they need in order to achieve success.”

He told MPs that there were 4,587 pupils in Bermuda’s public school system — about 2,000 fewer than 20 years ago.

The minister explained that the average number of pupils per primary school was 122, but that five of the island’s 18 primaries operated with fewer than 100 students.

Mr Rabain said: “If we took all of the students we have in primary schools now and created two classes per primary school from P1 to P6, of 16 students each, we would only need 11 out of the 18.”

He added: “That leaves us with seven schools that are unneeded. That equates to around $12 million in resources that can be piled into the remaining 11 schools.”

The minister explained that he did not have a desire to close schools, but that it was necessary to be prepared “for these types of conversations”.

Mr Rabain said that a recommendation in the report for a scheme of principal certifications was under way, with certifications expected to start in January.

He added: “We will now see actual performance appraisals done for principals, something that hasn’t been done in close to 20 years.”

The minister said that a school improvement initiative tackled the report’s recommendation that schools should have to prove how children are supported and encouraged to achieve.

He explained that the programme included a form for principals to detail their school’s performance and improvement measures, which will be published online for pupils and parents to check.