Plans for special needs signature school to be accelerated

Bermuda-Jasour- News Desk

The Minister of Education said plans for a signature school for students with special needs were being accelerated in light of limitations at the present facility, the Dame Marjorie Bean Hope Academy. During an update on education reform today, Diallo Rabain also addressed recent concerns from the Bermuda Union of Teachers. Mr Rabain said that plans for the signature school for “exceptionalities”, which included the closure of the Prospect Primary School at the end of the 2025 academic year to house it, would be sped up.

Under new plans, some services may be ready at Prospect by next September. “This change will better support our students’ needs as demand grows at Dame,” Mr Rabain explained. To support this, we are moving forward with the work needed to develop and transform the Prospect Primary site to provide specialised support and dedicated facilities. He said renovation schedules would be shared as the project progressed. Staff at the Dame Marjorie Bean staged industrial action last month amid concerns over staffing and safety.

Asked for the new timeline, Mr Rabain said it would take input from other government entities, including the Ministry of Health and Department of Child and Family Services. Mr Rabain outlined issues around recruitment during the education reform process that had led to some industrial action by the BUT. He said: “The road has not been without obstacles — some longstanding practices and customs have slowed our pace, and recent events have underscored the complexity of change.

By way of example, the issues most recently raised about some of the courses that are part of the signature learning programmes at CedarBridge Academy highlight the challenges we face as we transform our system. “We are working on the issues around recruitment and scheduling and are committed to putting the resources and necessary changes in place to address them.” He said three people had applied to teach the engineering course in the Stem signature learning programme at CedarBridge, which had been without a qualified teacher since the programme’s inception.

A temporary teacher is in place until a candidate can be hired to the position. Funding for recruitment was not said to be an issue. Mr Rabain also provided a recap on the next phases of the transition from a three-tier to two-tier education system. Starting with the parish primary schools, he said that in September 2025, all primary schools would accept their usual P1 intake, excluding St George’s Preparatory School and Somerset Primary School, where no new P1 students will enrol. The minister said recruitment for the school transition teams at Somerset and St George’s would commence soon.