Education Minister Jerome Fitzgerald yesterday continued to tout the "success" of efforts to improve education in The Bahamas.
"Since the introduction of the Bahamas High School Diploma (BHSD) in 2014 which set a new and more rigorous standard for graduation requirements [in The] Bahamas, we have seen steady improvement year after year for the past three years, particularly at the BJC level," said Fitzgerald in the House of Assembly.
"In 2012, when I became minister of education, as many as 1,000 students were leaving school without sitting one single BJC.
"In 2012, only about 20 percent of government school students graduated with four or more BJCs with a D and above.
"After the 2017 BJC results come out, we have projected that in 2017 government schools would have just over 50 percent of its graduates with four or more BJCs with a D and above.
"That's an increase of 150 percent in five short years.
"In pure number students, that is an increase of 1,350 students from around 900 in 2012 to approximately 2,250 in 2017.
"If that is not improvement, I don't know what is."
Fitzgerald said over nearly five years, his ministry set the foundation for the reform and improvements of academic performance in The Bahamas.
He asserted that the BHSD has brought accountability to the system and the Shared Vision for Education 2030 lays out the road map, measuring tools and goals of achieving an 85 percent graduation rate by 2030 while making education more relevant to students.
He continued, "A big part of making education more relevant is the introduction of technology in our schools.
"The PLP has invested more than $6 million in technology in our schools over the past five years, the largest single investment by any government in the country.
"We have computerized every junior and senior high school in the country and introduced coding in...14 schools."
Fitzgerald said he plans to introduce coding to primary schools in September through collaborations with Lego and Discovery Education.
He said there will be an increased focus on robotics at all levels in the public school system.
He also reiterated that scholarship investment has doubled from $7.7 million to $16.2 million.
Fitzgerald also answered Free National Movement (FNM) candidate for South Beach Jeff Lloyd, who has repeatedly insisted the current educational system needs "urgent and compelling" reform.
Fitzgerald maintains that many of the suggestions for the improvement of the educational system which were recommended by Lloyd "are already well underway".
He has invited Lloyd to sit with Ministry of Education officials to "better educate himself on the happenings in the education system".
Free National Movement Leader Dr. Hubert Minnis has announced that Lloyd would be minister of education in a Minnis administration.

Click here to read more at The Nassau Guardian