Government has moved to reassure parents and teachers that public schools are not suffering from a shortage of essential school supplies.

The Ministry of Education issued a statement last night in the wake of media reports that at least one public primary school was asking parents to pay for supplies, including art materials and text books.

The spokesman said that schools in the public system “are stocked with the required materials and school supplies” and that the Ministry worked with schools “to minimise inconvenience”.

“While all essential needs are provided by the Department, schools typically work well together to exchange goods when one runs low, even though they are typically responsible for placing their own orders with the Stores Department,” the spokesman said.

“In addition, they also opt to further supply themselves through the help of their PTAs, by establishing a ‘wish list’. This is optional but somewhat of a tradition as a collaborative exercise, because parents often want to help their child’s school have additional items that at times could be obtained from the community.”

The spokesman said the Department of Education encouraged school principals to contact the department if they had further requests for essential school supplies.

“The Department will resolve any challenges as best as possible, as first priority is always quality learning for students,” the spokesman said.

The most recent shipment of school supplies is being inventoried and readied for necessary distribution. Also yesterday, Department of Education officials met with the Bermuda Union of Teachers in a regularly scheduled Joint Consultative Committee meeting, during which a number of general issues were discussed.

According to the spokesman, the department and the BUT also discussed school needs and some of the challenges experienced, including school supplies.