Ministry of Education should be cause for concern. This is especially so since the complaints have led the General Secretary of the Bermuda Union of Teachers, Sen. Milton Scott, to accuse Government of discriminatory practices.

Senator Scott has accused the Ministry of not fulfilling promises made to these teachers. As a Progressive Labour Party Senator he is, of course, only too happy to find a cause with which to beat the United Bermuda Party Government. However, in this instance there appears to be a real problem which the PLP has every right to raise.

There are five unhappy non-Bermudian teachers. One disgruntled teacher who decided to leave after a few months because Bermuda and the school system did not live up to expectations might just be an unfortunate situation. However, five teachers breaking their contracts and leaving the Island after only five months should raise some serious questions.

Sen. Scott's statement that, "the Education Department should tighten up its recruiting policy and stop making false promises it can't deliver'', is a very serious accusation which needs to be answered.

There is every appearance that there has been a very serious muddle at the Ministry of Education. We think Shadow Education Minister Jennifer Smith was quite correct when she said: "What I found most astounding was that people recruited on contract never signed a contract or even saw one. Surely someone is guilty of not doing their job in a professional manner. I don't see how that could be dismissed as a minor mistake. It certainly seems a level of incompetence was demonstrated in this case.'' Education Ministry official Ray Latter has admitted that mistakes were made and that he is investigating to see who was responsible. That is all well and good as far as it goes.

It is often too easy in Bermuda to simply dismiss the damage done to guest workers who leave Bermuda under unhappy circumstances and treat them as if they are "disposable''. That may be what is happening in this case. These five people have been uprooted and brought to Bermuda with certain legitimate expectations and there are claims that they were misled. Those claims deserve a proper and independent investigation.

From Bermuda's point of view, if five teachers return to Britain and complain to their union, the National Union of Teachers, it may be difficult in future for Bermuda to recruit people of the calibre it requires. The Ministry of Education is very heavily staffed, yet for some years there have been serious questions about just how well it functions. There seems to us to be room for real concern. The Ministry is certainly one of the most controversial areas in Bermuda today.

A basic decision was taken that the Police Service needed an overhaul. We think a very similar thing should be undertaken with the Education Ministry.