Ms. Caesar said she tendered her resignation with the Progressive Labour Party citing concerns of being ‘unable to discharge’ those responsibilities as Minister of Education
Crystal Caesar has tendered her resignation as government Minister of Education and Government Senator, Thursday evening.
Ms. Caesar posted a lengthy statement on her social media page explaining her decision to step down from the role after taking over from MP Diallo Rabain in February 2025.
She said in the statement, “This has not been an easy decision. It is one that I have reached only after considerable reflection and after exhausting every avenue available to me to advance what I believe is in the best interests of Bermuda’s children and our public education system.”
“Over the past several months, however, I have become increasingly concerned that I have been unable to discharge those responsibilities in the manner that I believe the office demands,” she explained.
Ms. Caesar was responsible for continuing the Government’s transition under education reform from a three-tier to a two-tier system which has been marred by delays this year.
The statement alluded to disagreements with the future direction in rolling out education reform under her mandate as Minister.
She said, “In my view, decisions affecting the future of public education have too often been driven by predetermined political objectives rather than by evidence, professional advice, and technical expertise available to government.
“Where information has emerged suggesting that an alternative course of action would better serve students, I have found there to be insufficient willingness to reconsider those decisions.”
” I have also become deeply frustrated by what I perceive to be an inability to make decisions that would genuinely strengthen our education system because of lack of support within Cabinet, particularly from the Premier, for approaches that differed from an established political direction.”
Premier and leader of the ruling Progressive Labour Party David Burt issued a statement on Thursday night confirming that he met with Ms. Caesar’s and accepted her resignation from the Cabinet and Senate.
He said, “Ms. Caesar is entitled to her views. But I consider her comments on her former Cabinet colleagues surprising and unfortunate.
“The Premier’s responsibility is to ensure that the Government is best positioned to deliver on its Throne Speech commitments, advance the legislative agenda, and keep the work of Government moving as we near the end of this Legislative session.
“I respect Crystal’s decision to resign. Collective responsibility is a fundamental principle of our system of government and Ministers express their frank and honest views on every issue before Cabinet, but decisions made by the body must be supported and executed by all.
The full statement from Ms. Caesar can be viewed below.
