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Can any law, however well-intentioned, change the outcome of this simplest of arithmetic matters: (2 + 2) = 4?

Nineteen years ago, in 1988, Minister for Education Gerald Simons, made an impassioned - well, as impassioned as Gerald gets - presentation to Berkeley's PTSA. Minister Simons pointed out that exam results at Berkeley were declining. The Minister was pointing to a fact first noticed in the very early 1980s.

In 1988, both Warwick Academy and the Berkeley Institute were public schools. Both were run by 'boards of governors'. Both were competitive entry schools. Berkeley was then still over 95 per cent black, while Warwick was about 25 per cent black.

The Minister showed that, annually, both Warwick Academy and the Berkeley Institute received - had always been receiving - roughly the same number of public school children. On entry, all the children had roughly the same academic characteristics. All were from the top quarter of all of Bermuda's public schools.

The Minister then demonstrated how five years later, at graduation time, Warwick Academy was consistently graduating 75-80 per cent of its intake of five years prior. The Minister pointed, with alarm - well, with as much alarm as the Minister was able - to the fact that Berkeley's graduating rate had dropped to the 50 per cent mark - and was still heading lower.

Thirteen more years passed.

By 2001, after the Cedarbridge Academy and Berkeley Middle School brouhaha, Warwick Academy had gone private, but had stayed competitive entry. Berkeley stayed public and went open entry. Warwick became 45-60 per cent black while Berkeley remained around 85-90 per cent black.

Much more importantly, thirteen years later, by 2001, Warwick Academy was still churning out fifth year graduates at about 75-80 per cent of its first year intake of students. These Warwick Academy students were still taking GCSE exams and the Warwick graduating standard was still five GCSE subjects.

Thirteen years later, by 2001, the Berkeley Institute had stopped offering any GCSE standard subjects. In 2007, neither Berkeley nor Cedarbridge promises an S1 entry student that he/she will commence a GCSE standard curriculum that will enable him/her, four years later, to sit and pass a five GCSE exams that will show him/her to be on exactly the same academic level as students at Saltus, Warwick Academy, BHS. It's been like that since 2001.

However, with teacher support and student participation, students at BI and CBA can still actually sit for a GCSE in certain subjects. But, as with the CBA Spanish language teacher, these exam 'sits' are extraordinary and not common.

In Bermuda's academic fraternity, it is accepted that the BSC is pitched at a lower level than the GCSE. IB hires globally and IB's minimum standard would require that a person has a basic education that is at least at a standard of five GCSEs.

Now nineteen years further along, in 2007, in Bermuda, NO PUBLIC HIGH SCHOOL is offering any opportunity to reach the basic minimum standard for proof of good academic advancement. NO PUBLIC SCHOOL IS OFFERING THIS OPPORTUNITY!

In eight months, it will be June 2008. In eight months, another batch of Cedarbridge and Berkeley students will graduate. Over this eight-month period these soon-to-be graduates will NOT have had an opportunity to sit and pass five GCSE exams.

In June 2008, six out of 10 high school students will have been denied this opportunity.

All of these soon-to-be public school graduates - the vast majority of whom are black - are being denied an opportunity to place themselves on an economic playing field where a sound basic education is a fundamental and absolute requirement.

If, twenty-five, twenty, and ten years ago, Bermuda's public educating system was failing; then twenty-five, twenty, and ten years after, there will be a consequence. The consequence is that there will be a shortage of people - particularly black Bermudian people - with educational backgrounds enabling them to take full advantage of real opportunities in today's high-demand economy.

That's the simple arithmetic. Yesteryear's failure = 2. Continued failure = 2. Shortage of blacks in today's senior appointments = 4.

Today's inequity in the workplace is real. But today's inequity is a direct consequence of yesterday's realities of under-education, under-preparation, and of decades of failing to provide a fair opportunity to thousands of people - with the vast majority of these people, black high-schoolers.

No matter how well-intentioned, no matter how well-argued, no matter how laced with punishments; legislation and law cannot alter the consequence of adding 2 + 2.

Though it may look like race, it is not race. Today's inequity stems from years of poor PREPARATION and inadequate EDUCATION!

Education, not legislation, can fix it. In 2007, it looks to me like 'fixing' won't even start until possibly September 2008 - or even September 2009. n

Larry Burchall is the author of 'Fine as Wine. From Coloured Boy to Bermudian Man.'[[In-content Ad]]

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