The Ministry of Education today announced that graduation rates rose by five percent this year to reach 96 percent. This is up from a dismal 53 percent just four years ago.
The 96 percent rate is based on the number of students entering S4. The rate is 71 percent when based on number of students entering S1, which is close to the United States average. Bermuda’s S1 graduation rate is up from just 44 percent in 2004.
So, that’s upbeat news. But, Bermudians must be wondering why the Ministry did not reveal the GCSE statistics (which were released by some of the island’s private schools weeks ago).
UPDATE: The Royal Gazette and the Bermuda Sun focus on the same subject, namely if the academic performance of students has risen along with the graduation rate.
UPDATE2: I’ve removed a query regarding the actual numbers of graduates. Those numbers were apparently provided by the Ministry but not reported by the media. Hey media, give us real numbers not pre-digested summaries. Hey Government, get a better website for your press releases.