For anyone who had difficulty learning in a traditional classroom setting and did not graduate from high school, the Adult Education School (AES) has become a lifeline for them to realise their full academic potential.
As Bermuda’s only tuition-free school for adult learners, AES provides the resources and teaching needed for them not just to earn their GED, but also to acquire other vital life skills:
“GED is a tool because you need to have a high school diploma if you’re going to go on to study, if you’re going to go out and work. But, GED was never the point of the school. The point of the school was always to empower people to know that they matter and that they must contribute,” explains AES managing director, Arlene Brock, whose aunt, Merle Swan-Williams, founded the school in 1958.
“The point of the school is to grab those parts of the population who felt dispirited, who felt unable, who felt divorced.”
Financial Literacy
An important element of this empowerment is financial self-awareness, and to this end, AES was able to launch a six month financial literacy programme in January thanks to support from HSBC. The bank made a significant financial contribution to the school, a portion of which was specifically for this programme.
As part of the programme, members of the bank’s staff also donated their time and expertise by giving a presentation entitled ‘Banking Basics’, which explained bank accounts, debit and credit cards, online banking, banking safety, interest rates, and fees. They also answered a wide range of questions from attendees:
“It was really accessible,” praises AES director of programming, Thaao Dill. “The presenters had clear, explicit presentations that were detailed and interesting, but they had to go off script a lot because there was so much engagement from the learners and other attendees.”
The AES Financial Literacy Programme was made available to the wider community as well as AES learners, and presentations were held at the Vision Bermuda Hall each month. Topics included an ‘Introduction to Fiscal Literacy’ by Craig Simmons, ‘The National Budget Statement’ by The Hon. Paula Cox, and ‘Saving and Setting Financial Goals’ by Angela Joell.
“Financial change takes time. This series was designed to allow concepts to digest, with room to practice between sessions,” explains Greg Garnier, Chief Executive Officer at HSBC Bermuda. “Financial literacy isn’t a one-hour lecture. It’s a daily practice and mindset. It shifts how we look at every pay cheque, savings goal and purchase or investment decision, and demystifies wealth. Most importantly, it gives individuals the confidence to build real, lasting security.”
Feedback from the presentations was overwhelmingly positive: “This is exactly the kind of thing I’ve been looking for,” says one learner. “I don’t feel as powerless when it comes to money as I have in the past.”
GED
HSBC also supports AES because it provides an essential foundation for growth to adults who have faced extraordinary obstacles, without the barrier of tuition fees. Tanya Bule, Head of International Wealth and Premier Banking at HSBC explains, “A key pillar of our philanthropic giving is inclusion and resilience. The General Education Diploma is a second chance that recognises resilience, restores confidence, and opens doors to work, further study, and stability. Supporting AES means backing people who’ve kept going when the system didn’t fit — and helping them turn determination into opportunity.”
Through no fault of their own, for example, most learners have not been able to thrive in a traditional classroom setting: “Learners have often ricocheted amongst many school environments,” explains Ms Brock. “Most are academically capable. Low confidence is the bigger culprit.”
To improve their confidence and provide much needed individualised support, the school offers small class sizes, one-on-one tutoring and a pathway co-ordinator who gets to know each person, discover why their previous education hadn’t worked for them, determine a pathway for success, and then support them on that pathway to achieving their GED: “We’re relentlessly positive in the way that we speak to the learners,” says lead pathway co-ordinator, Tim Smith.
Positivity is vital, because reasons why learners may have struggled in the past could be an undiagnosed learning challenge, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) or dyslexia. It can also be because they were ridiculed in the past, and that experience stuck with them.
One example Dill gives is a learner who, in school, shared a wrong answer: “The entire class just laughed, but crucially, the teacher did not intervene appropriately. They affirmed what happened, like, you should be ridiculed for being wrong.” After that, this person kept their hand down even when their idea was good or their answer correct.
Since entering AES however, that learner has overcome this and is now able to share observations and ask questions in group settings, in a way they didn’t have the confidence to do before.
AES provides academic and pathway coordination support for an average of 75 learners per year, aged between 16 and 82. Learners can enrol throughout the year and stay there until they achieve their GED. About 75 percent of current learners are under the age of 25, and 20 learners are expected to graduate this year.
For more information about AES, visit aesbda.org.
