Scores of teachers have had their jobs axed as the Ministry of Education continues to try to slash millions of dollars from its budget.Emotional scenes took place at primary, middle and senior schools across the Island as principals told their staff they were out of work.The cost-cutting move will see some schools losing up to ten teachers. The Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy have been hardest hit.The majority of teachers losing their jobs this summer are expatriates and those who are not completely qualified.All those affected are on one-year contracts and have been told that their contracts will not be renewed for September 2011.It has been described as “a blanket cut” on all unqualified teachers even though some of them were just hours away from completing their teacher training. Many of those affected teach subjects such as PE, music, business and design and technology. They have university degrees but not specific teaching qualifications.Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith said yesterday that all those on one-year contracts had been told to go, but she refused to confirm numbers.However, Dame Jennifer has assured Bermudians teachers who are qualified that they will be re-employed in September.This comes just a week after the announcement that a fifth of Bermuda's paraprofessionals and educational therapists were losing their jobs.Thirty out of the 150 staff who assist teachers and special-needs children in the classroom are affected.One teacher, who did not want to be named, said many of those affected had applied for teaching jobs to help fill shortages. They were expected to carry out a certain amount of hours of teacher training to become certified.She said: “A lot of teachers have been told to go, there are Island wide cuts, they are really cutting back. Some of these people have been teaching for quite a while, and are excellent teachers. But this is how they are treated, their help has been thrown back in their faces.“The Ministry is trying to save money and raise the level of professionalism at the same time.“Some of these people are just five hours away from being certified, but these are blanket cuts right across the board.“They don't care about individual cases of teachers, they haven't addressed personal stories, everyone has just been told they are out.”A Bermuda Union of Teachers collective agreement requires the Ministry to advise teaching staff of their status no later than June 1.It is understood that the Ministry of Education e-mailed school principals on June 1 with a list of staff who would not have their contracts renewed. It was then up to the principals to break the news to the affected staff during the school day.The Ministry of Education had its budget reduced by ten percent or $12 million. In total $128.15 million will be allocated to the Ministry in the coming fiscal year. It is the second year in a row the education budget has been cut, after it was cut by $2.6 million in 2010.Dame Jennifer said during the education budget debate that personnel levels would be affected. Dame Jennifer would only say yesterday: “The facts are that all persons on one year contracts were advised that they will not be renewed.“If that individual is a qualified Bermudian and registered with the Bermuda Educators Council, they will have employment in September.”There are about 700 public school teachers and by law they have to have a licence from the Bermuda Educators Council (BEC) to be able to teach in Bermuda.When questioned further, the Minister's spokeswoman said those qualified Bermudians would be appointed rather than being contracted to posts.The teacher said morale in schools was “very, very low” as teachers questioned whether they would be able to provide the same levels of education.She said: “Parents have every right to be concerned. There's going to be this huge void in the school system as there just won't be the teacher numbers.“Will they have adequate staffing levels in September? I very much doubt it.“They will have no choice but to bring back some of the same staff in September.“Go figure. Where's the sense in that? The children are the ones who suffer.”In light of budget cuts, Craig Bridgewater, chairman of governors at The Berkeley Institute, said they had already started to discontinue programmes of “little demand” to students.He said: “We have been working to meet the requirements of the budget reduction mandated by the Ministry of $1.6m in salaries and $1.3 in operating costs as funded by a Capitation Grant received from the Ministry of Education.“Any action that has been taken has been done after careful consideration of the quality of programming at the Berkeley Institute. The continued quality of the programming offered to our students, particularly in core subjects, is of utmost importance.”The Ministry of Education has previously announced that they would release the cost of staff reductions by the end of this month.The BUT and Association of School Principals did not respond to our request for comment yesterday.* Are you a parent - what do you think about this? Email news@royalgazette.bm. Are you a teacher affected by this? Email news@royalgazette.bm