The announcement that Government schools are rushing to fill 23 teacher vacancies this month was branded “an annual and recurring problem” by the Opposition One Bermuda Alliance.Education Shadow Minister Grant Gibbons said: “While some last minute resignations or retirements are to be expected, parents were being told a similar story last year in September: that red tape and hiring delays would mean teacher shortages in a number of specialist areas.”Out of a total of 901 positions, 23 have been left empty — although Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith has said Government expects to have 21 filled during September.She attributed most of the gaps to “last minute decisions” by teachers to retire or move on.“It’s not clear from the Minister’s statement whether existing teachers will have to cover classes and prepare lessons outside their normal areas to address the shortages — or whether substitutes will be made available given the government’s budgetary problems,” Dr Gibbons told The Royal Gazette.“Neither approach is ideal and raises the possibility that the quality of the students’ education could suffer in the first few critical weeks of school.”Bermuda Union of Teachers leader Mike Charles said he knew of many teachers who had gone overseas, especially in science and maths.However, he added, the BUT didn’t anticipate other teachers being moved out of their specialist subjects to fill the gap.“It used to happen, but we haven’t had any complaints about that in quite a while. Schools themselves would be remiss if they tried to encourage that kind of thing.”Mr Charles said the new Cambridge Curriculum in public schools made it especially unlikely for teachers to be moved outside their speciality.Overseas teachers are expected to fill the majority of vacancies over the coming weeks.