Clarence Terceira officially opened Education Month yesterday.

"The month of February provides an opportunity to publicise and to celebrate some of the many programmes and activities in our schools,'' Dr. Terceira said at Prospect Pre-School.

"In recent years there has been much public attention focused on the restructuring of the school system -- one of the major recommendations of the Education Planning Team,'' he said.

Although the process has drawn harsh public criticism and is generally credited with costing former Education Minister the Hon. Gerald Siimons his job, "the restructuring aims at making an already very good system even better,'' Dr. Terceira said.

"What we do very well for some of our students, we want to do just as well for all of them.'' Prospect Pre-School was chosen to open Education Month because it accommodates children with "special needs'', he said. Putting physically or mentally handicapped children in regular classrooms was another recommendation of the EPT.

"We have recognised that the integration of children with special needs helps prepare them to function in the community, including the business community,'' he said. "It also helps children who do not have special needs to develop sensitivity to their peers and a sense of responsibility to assist them where they can.'' Dr. Terceira said detailed information about the restructuring was about to be mailed to every household. A supplement will be published in The Royal Gazete this month, and a weekly schools page in the Gazette during the month of February begins today. (See Page 23).

The theme for the 8th annual Education Month is "Education: We Mean Business.'' Dr. Terceira was joined at the opening by Mrs. Debby Graham, representing the business community.

Close ties between the Education Ministry and business are being intitiated and strengthened, he said. Ministry staff have spearheaded creation of the Business/Education Partnership, he said.

Education Month is to culminate with The Main Event at Bermuda College's Stonington Campus on February 26. Among exhibitions and events planned is a Young Enterprise marketplace.