Roberts Bids Bethel Good Riddance

In a scathing press statement released last night, the PLP chairman responded to news that Mr. Bethel, whose tenure as education minister has not been distinguished by any advance in education, had been elected chairman and is set to step down.

"The Bahamian people can recall that the PLP called for the resignation of Mr. Bethel when he mishandled and neglected the deep concerns expressed by parents, teachers, and students in Grand Bahama by walking out of a meeting called to address grave concerns in the public school system on that island," he said.

Mr. Bethel was attending a meeting with Eight Mile Rock High School teachers when he reportedly walked out before the meeting had ended. Bahamas Union of Teachers (BUT) President Belinda Wilson later demanded his resignation.

Mr. Roberts said Mr. Bethel, as education minister, "failed" to provide a safe learning environment for students and was "ineffective" in addressing a myriad of problems in the public school system, including excessive incidents of violence, child molestation scandals and shortage of teachers. 

In 2008, after allegations surfaced about a sexual relationship between a teacher and a student at a government high school, the People for Ethics in Government (PEG) lashed out at Mr. Bethel, calling him a "lame duck" minister and slammed his handling of the matter.

In recent months, a number of allegations, particularly in Grand Bahama, have been made about teachers having sexual relationships with their students.

Mr. Roberts said Mr. Bethel further "torched" the dreams of many young Bahamians when his government cancelled the Ministry of Education’s Guaranteed Loan Programme.

Several months ago, Mr. Bethel announced that the government was suspending the programme because too many students were defaulting on their loans. He said more than 61 per cent of loans had not been serviced.

"Under his leadership, the scholastic performance of our students declined drastically as the national average is presently pegged at D-.This was further evidence that Mr. Bethel failed to advance the interests of and secure the future of our nation’s youths, the future of our country," he said.

  "A word of encouragement to our devoted educators; the end of the month is but 24 days away and it ain’t long now." 

National Security Minister Tommy Turnquest said Mr. Bethel could step down by the end of the month or the first week in December. However, he said he could not give a specific date as to when his colleague would demit office.