BHS showing the way for future of education

Khaild Wasi

Published Apr 21, 2018 at 8:00 am (Updated Apr 20, 2018 at 9:40 pm)

Modern education: the planned Innovation Centre on the campus of BHS sets an example for education in Bermuda

The Bermuda High School has taken a giant step into the future by introducing technology into its curriculum.

Although technology is an extension to its core for which it already had an impressive reputation and a model example of achievement, this step brings the school in line with the 21st-century demands for a fully integrated education that prepares students to become leaders in a world that is predicated on technology.

It is a similar epochal moment as when the former Bermuda Technical Institute was created back in 1956 to meet the demands of a changing world for Bermuda, which was then seeing the introduction of motor vehicles, newer forms of plumbing, air conditioning, and telecommunications. Bermuda sits now in a new world of technological changes at the precipice of full automation and blockchain technologies.

It is essential that Bermuda keep pace with the world in which it lives and by all indications the board of governors at BHS are forward thinking.

There are already gaps in the quality of education available to our youth made more obvious by the near collapse of public education from the mid-1990s onward.

The inconvenient truth of the educational disparity is that it ultimately reflects in social segregation not based on race but economic mobility.

This latest development, though welcome and needed, should be a signal that the disparity will only widen and there needs to be some rumbling on the ground or possibly an earthquake to wake up the public — or should one say “affordable education”.

The grand goal of equality and a fully integrated society is unequivocally hinged on providing everyone with a quality education.

Education itself is virtually meaningless if it does not equip the students to deal with, if not thrive in, the economy in which they live.

Education is meant to make one useful and provide the tools to master the world around you. It builds self-esteem and confidence, while poor education, or lack a of education, causes low self-esteem and resentment and a trail of social degeneration.

Becoming educationally relevant and current is our challenge as a society. BHS has shown the way, now we must recognise what this means to Bermuda’s future in a total sense.

We need to dig deeper into our pockets and find the wherewithal which may mean further tens of millions of dollars more to create an effective system of technical education throughout our entire educational construct.

These are the realities of our present-day Bermuda, having or not having the means for a quality education will decide the future landscape of our society. That has always in some fashion been the reality, it’s just that this reality is becoming more graphic in its proportions.

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