Friday, January 30, 2004

MAINTAINING A COMPETITIVE EDUCE

The Honourable Jennifer M. Smith, JP, DHumL, MP

"Bridging the Digital Divide"
Symposium on Public - Private Partnership in Technology Education
(Bermuda 28-30 January 2004)

Good afternoon. Honourable Ministers, distinguished overseas delegates, my colleagues Minister Neletha Butterfield and Minister Michael Scott and Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell. I am deeply honoured to have been invited to speak to you today, and I want to congratulate the International Education Collaborative Foundation for holding this symposium. This is an exceptional opportunity to discuss and exchange personal experiences on issues common to us all and from what I hear it has been a great success to date.

The Challenge for Bermuda

The last twenty years of the twentieth century were marked by unprecedented change. A compelling force of this change was the linking of countries through ultra high-speed communications, unparalleled international trade, global institutions and markets.
A phenomenon described as “Globalisation”.

Globalisation spurred innovation, enhanced competition, opened new markets, increased investments and provided new opportunities. Here in the island of Bermuda we too have been affected, with globalisation acting as a major driving force behind new economic growth.

There are those, like former Chamber of Commerce President Cris Valdes-Dapena who will say that Bermuda has always been part of a global economy. Founded, as it were accidentally, by the British outreach to find new colonies.

At each stage of our existence we have been involved in international trade. We have been pirates and privateers, annexed the Turks and Caicos Islands for their salt, and exported onions all over the world.

But, there is another side.

The impact of globalization on mobility cannot be overrated. With no time or geography restrictions, businesses are increasingly global and as one keen observer said, “Mobile capital, mobile people”.

We recognize that the companies that come to Bermuda are on the cutting edge of technology, and we have to ensure that the workforce needed for these companies is available here. Our local workforce is now competing on a global basis.

Let me take you back to 1998.

In October of that year, XL’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Brian O’Hara and then Education Minister, Tim Smith, announced a multi-million dollar, three-year agreement between the company and government to fund the design and implementation of a new curriculum for information technology in the public school system.

In November, the Bermuda Progressive Labour Party took on the reins of Government.

As the Progressive Labour Party’s first Minister of Education, I was immediately faced with shaping our government’s position on the XL Initiative, as it was then called.

As a first-time government, we were acutely aware of the challenges that faced us. We had made Education a cornerstone of our election platform and now we had to consider how to best prepare the next generation for the complexities of the 21st century work world.

Intelligent labour is vital to every nation, for business cannot grow without a skilled workforce. We had to find a way to give all our students access to information technology.
Failure was not an option.

Bermuda cannot afford to have any of our young people on the wrong side of the digital divide…deprived of the best source of information source, or separated from the technology-based social networks used by young people around the world.

In addition, my government had made a commitment to develop an educational curriculum that met the needs of the international business community.

The decision was easy – we would support the initiative.

Our goal was for every public school student to graduate computer and technologically literate; prepared to use computers and technology in the workplace, or at any level of higher education. In short, we wanted to develop a highly skilled workforce prepared to enter the job market as globally competitive information technology professionals.

I should note two facts that made our support for the XL Initiative an easy decision to make:

One, as Shadow Minister, I had been informed and kept up-to-date on the project,

Two, the person who was instrumental in forming the US/Bermuda Information Technology educational partnership and in forging the collaboration with Stanford University, was someone I knew - Congresswoman Diane Watson (at that time a California State Senator). Congresswoman Watson is an old and dear friend, and one of my mentors.

It is vital when dealing with governments to take note of the political considerations. From its inception the XL Initiative was non-partisan; it was flexible to historical, political and economic circumstances and this ensured its success.

But the greatest strength of the XL Bermuda Technology Initiative was that it had leadership and vision, top-level political commitment, a central capability, realistic and achievable plans and a realistic timescale. It also had a charismatic director in Diane Miller.

It was Diane and her dogged determination that persuaded the teachers, who - having seen educational reform after educational reform - were skeptical (to say the least).
It was Diane and her persistence that helped to persuade parents.

And it was Diane, and her undiminished optimism, that convinced business and civic leaders to give not just money, but also time and commitment to support the initiative.

There must always be one person dedicated to steering a plan through to completion. One person who has caught the vision and who will follow up to ensure its success.

The Bermuda Technology Educational Collaborative (BTEC)

As the relentless advances of technology become an integral part of all aspects of daily life, the issue of access and use had become a primary concern. For some time the Bermuda Education system had been trying to find ways to strengthen school-community links.

In 1998, with few exceptions, there was neither broad public participation, nor extensive collaboration between various sectors of the community with regard to the need for information technology training in public schools.

Involving these different sectors of the community was crucial. Businesses, parents, teachers, politicians, government officials and the public at large – all had to agree that technology education was an issue of community concern.

Enter the XL Educational Initiative (now BTEC – The Bermuda Technology Educational Collaborative). We cannot thank Mr. Brain O’Hara and XL Limited enough for their investment in Bermuda’s children and in Bermuda’s future. Not only XL, but all the partners of the BTEC Initiative deserve our gratitude. This institutional foundation was vital to achieving the broad-based support and understanding that was essential to Government’s ability to commit.

At the time, this collaboration between government, educators, the private sector and the community was labeled “a model for the way education will be reinvented globally.” Bermuda, provides an ideal laboratory in which to design a technology curriculum that can be replicated in other countries.

Of course, there were the financial considerations.

We had entered Government promising “no new taxes in our first year.” On top of that, our election platform had promised various initiatives…all of which required funding. Building the public will for technology education was one thing, but getting agreement for the necessary funding – at the possible cost of some other worthy project – was another thing entirely.

The fund-raising strategy devised by XL and B-Tec made the technology initiative possible within this context. It became a true joint-effort between Government, schools and the business community.

Political realities also impacted on the initiative’s initial ‘three-year’ time plan. First, the change of government, then a change in Minister (well, a few). But, the focus was never lost.

Of course, no single strategy will transform schools and improve student learning by itself, but I can attest to the fact that B-Tec has been a motivator for change and improvement.

Teachers have a challenging job educating our young and preparing them for the demands of the workforce. They struggle to maintain order and academic standards, while keeping up with the latest educational and technical developments. Learning to integrate technology into lessons as a tool to support learning was not high on every teacher’s list.

Like the technology coordinator in a Chicago elementary school, who decided to teach the parents computer skills first, instead of the students, B-Tec made a crucial decision to first teach the teachers, then the students.

And just as that decision in Chicago had such a far-reaching impact on parents, students, the school and the wider community – so, too, did this decision in Bermuda. Technology opens the classroom door to vast resources of knowledge, collaborators and mentors, and supports the teacher in giving students an appropriate educational experience.
Teachers became excited and got behind the project.

Business is the link to Sustainable Development

As a jurisdiction, Bermuda is constantly developing and adapting to the challenges that impact the global business community. Bermuda confronts these challenges by building solid relationships between government and the business community. These relationships, a holistic blend of the skills and mindset of both the public and private sectors, safeguard Bermuda’s international business and financial service sectors and the economy of which they are a part.
Unity and shared destiny are powerful tools.

Partnering proved vital when economic and other conditions impacted our foreign exchange earnings negatively. The multi-pronged effects of September eleven, terrorist attacks around the world, SARS, and global recession have delivered punishing blows to the civilized world in recent years. In Bermuda, the international business sector played a central role that not only buttressed the island’s economy through hardship, but also secured the island’s sustained economic viability.

It is part of the partnership perspective that our guest workers also play an integral role in training and upgrading the specialist skills of our local workforce. With some of the brightest, most innovative and most entrepreneurial business minds domiciled here, we have a resource to ensure that Bermuda has the appropriate and necessary skill mix needed to service our financial sector. It is an ongoing balancing act.

National resources used to be counted as a country’s land and the mineral wealth buried below. Today, it is widely recognized that one of the greatest natural resources for a country is her human capital - the people.

The countries that develop this human capital through education and who nurture the talent, ingenuity and intelligence of their citizens, are the countries that will thrive in the 21st century.
Bermuda is unique. Like the islands of the Caribbean, we are blessed with good weather, an uncommon natural environment and a people with a warm disposition. We are a very small island and part of our attraction is our natural beauty, cleanliness and order.

The two mainstays of our economy are tourism and international business – the two are symbiotic. Both are important. International business offers great opportunity, but requires sophisticated and specialist skills; tourism offers great opportunity, but requires a larger and more varied range of skills.

By international standards Bermudians are well-educated. Over one fifth of the local workforce possesses a bachelor’s degree, or equivalent qualification, or higher level of qualification. While there is virtually no unemployment, there is a need to create more job opportunities for the next generation and to give them the skills which will enable them to compete around the world… to be globally marketable!

About 40% of the jobs in the international business and related services sector are held by overseas personnel, so Bermuda has long recognised that we will always need to import some overseas expertise. Although we suffer periodic labour shortages in specialized areas like many international business centres, the dilemma we face is how to sustain a strong economy without undue reliance on imported labour.

Clearly, the answer is education and increased training opportunities directly relevant to the local job market. We have to get our children to the level where they can take advantage of the unprecedented opportunities that are now available.

Our country of twenty-two square miles has a population density of three thousand people per square mile; physical limitations that make the question of future growth one that can only be answered within the context of sustainable development.

It was this recognition that caused the PLP government to discuss all issues and problems within the context of sustainable development. We developed a joined-up governmental approach to issues and we introduced a Central Policy Unit to ensure that there was a firm policy position on which to base every governmental decision.

The challenge, facing Bermuda and many other countries, is how to grow our economy so that it benefits the greatest number of people, while putting the least amount of pressure on our limited resources

Establishing e-Government – Mandates for survival

Computer technology is the “universal language of the future.” And the age of technology, information and communications will reward those countries whose people learn the new skills needed to stay ahead. That’s why Bermuda prides itself on having one of the most advanced telecommunications infrastructures of any comparable sized jurisdiction.

We are committed to developing a technological infrastructure, in collaboration with business leaders and their particular needs that is conducive to business growth. The 1999 Electronic Transaction Act is a case in point. So too is the access to technology provided at the Bermuda National Library and in our post offices – ensuring that the wider population has relatively inexpensive computer access.Education

Education has always been important. Now, it is even more important.

In Bermuda, as elsewhere, economic, social and political life has been profoundly affected by the new technologies of production and communication, making it imperative for the next generation to be fully literate and adaptable in order to be employed. Technology is changing so rapidly that we don’t want students graduating with skills that are already outdated in the workplace. As a society, we have to tackle the issues in our educational system, while also looking for strategies to reduce the digital divide.

Education will determine which countries will thrive in this globally connected technology-driven world. That’s why it was so important for Bermuda to participate in the OECD International Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey (IALLS) last year. For the first time, Bermuda will have solid data on literacy. We will have statistics on which to base our literacy programmes, and we will be able to track our progress.

Like many new Governments, there was little room in our first Budget for unexpected new expenditure. But, Government was responsible for the management and maintenance of the education system’s Information Technology infrastructure; and an independent report on Middle Schools had revealed that technology resources needed updating.

Today, exposure to, and use of, technology are prevalent throughout our public school system. Each primary school has computer lab facilities. Middle schools and senior schools have at least two labs. And, as a result of the teacher training provided through the Bermuda Technology Educational Collaborative (BTEC), middle and senior level students are learning how to use other technology such as LCD projectors.

The goal at the senior level is “to ensure that our students become critical and analytical readers, logical and insightful thinkers and concise users of visual, written and oral language”.

Few of these problems can be solved by governments alone, and none by schools alone. The success of an education system depends on several factors, not least of which is a community dedicated to encouraging and supporting learning. Technology can be a bridge between schools, the community and the wider world.

Conclusion

Our historical background and cultural diversity makes us individual and unique. Our shared heritage makes us part of one family. But it must be the universal desire to equip our children, and our children’s children, with the skill sets they will need to not only adapt and conform to the modern world, but to excel and flourish – competing successfully globally – that is the unifying force.

In the final analysis, there can be little argument on one fact: education is not a choice; it is a right – one that our children, and their children, deserve to enable them to compete and flourish in the local marketplace and the global community of which we are a part.

As leaders, we navigate the turbulent waters of an environment that is tempestuous and most challenging. Armed with knowledge of the seas, a good captain will steer a brave and steady course. The Bermuda example is not only the story of a journey, but also a blueprint to success.
I hope you have found this speech and the symposium stimulating, challenging, perhaps provocative, but certainly beneficial.

Thank you.

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