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Dear Sir,

Recent incidents at CedarBridge Academy, the decision to close Smiths Preschool and subsequent coverage in the press give us the opportunity to explain the Ministry of Education and Development’s approach to communicating with the public on issues affecting public education in Bermuda.

As you would be aware, the decision to close Smiths Parish preschool was made as a last resort after an exhaustive search for suitable alternative premises.

It is unfortunate that a subheading (“Statement made after Sun inquiry”) in the Bermuda Sun story of Friday, April 26 gave the misleading impression that the Ministry would not have informed the public of this decision, when it did, had the paper not made inquiries about the matter.

There are several thousand direct stakeholders within the public education system, however, the Ministry recognises the critical significance of public education to the country as a whole.

As such, the goal of the Ministry is to communicate as proactively as possible with the general public on issues pertaining to public education while tempering this with the need to ensure that full dialogue and consultation take place with internal stakeholders before decisions are made public.

In the case of the Smiths preschool closure, the direct internal stakeholders included parents who had registered their children for the upcoming year and the three staff members.

Discussions and communication had to take place with these groups, and the Bermuda Union of Teachers, before communicating the Ministry’s decisions to the general public.

That process was completed on Wednesday afternoon, clearing the way to informing the general public on Thursday, April 27. The Bermuda Sun, apparently, concluded that the Ministry issued its statement when it did only because of their inquiries.

The Royal Gazette’s coverage of Friday’s evacuation of CedarBridge Academy also left the misleading impression that the Ministry’s intention to revise the Education Rules to require schools to have a bomb threat evacuation plan was a direct consequence of Friday’s incident.

In fact, that decision was made well before this recent CedarBridge Academy incident, as part of an ongoing review process, and was explained in response to a reporter’s questions at a press conference called by the Ministry immediately after the all-clear had been given.

While there may be any number of reasons why the printed coverage was misleading in both instances and we do not wish to engage in a “media bashing” exercise, it is important to correct any perception in the minds of the public that the Ministry of Education and Development was being reactive when nothing could be further from the truth.

The Ministry of Education and Development, with the assistance of the Department of Communication and Information, strives to be as proactive in its communications as possible. Its actions and decisions reported last week were sterling examples of such a pro-active approach.

Dr. Joseph Christopher

Chief Education Officer

Ministry of Education and Development

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