Government’s “excuse” that visa problems are behind the shortfall of public school teachers has been challenged by the Opposition — and by CedarBridge parents.Asked why positions remain unfilled, a Ministry of Education spokeswoman last night reiterated the stance taken by Permanent Secretary Warren Jones last month, when a CedarBridge parent at a town-hall meeting demanded to know why his daughter was still being taught by substitute teachers.At the time, Mr Jones acknowledged that a small number of places remained empty.Explaining that an unspecified number of Jamaican teachers were being held up by visa complications, Mr Jones also said Government would be advertising to fill next year’s school vacancies as early as this month.The Royal Gazette understands that both the public senior schools have had to accommodate teacher vacancies through the first month of the school year.But CedarBridge parents have said teachers appealed during a PTA meeting for them to “put pressure on Government”, claiming that at least two teachers were called out of retirement to fill the shortage — and that the school’s principal and deputy principal had been covering classes.The Ministry did not respond when asked how many places remained vacant, or say when they were expected to be filled.The spokeswoman said the answer remained “the same as it was at the Town Hall Meeting” of two weeks ago.Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons of the One Bermuda Alliance said: “It’s hard to accept the Ministry’s excuse of red tape and visa problems, as this is a recurring problem and parents heard the same excuse last year.”Dr Gibbons added: “And given last year’s delays, one might have reasonably expected the Ministry to start the hiring process earlier in 2012.”Shortages were reported for middle and seniors schools throughout the public school system in September, 2011.Dr Gibbons said Government ought to find ways of filling this year’s vacancies with “qualified Bermudian teachers who may be available given the current economic conditions”.A spokesman for the Department of Immigration said the overseas teachers were held up by transit visa requirements that were beyond Bermuda’s control.However, one irate CedarBridge parent dismissed the explanation as “hogwash”.“A transit visa to come through the US, Canada or the UK is very straightforward to get, especially if these folks already have their work permits,” the parent said.“The only legal reason those countries wouldn’t issue them would be that the work permits haven’t been processed, or that they have criminal records.”Incensed because their child had no full-time maths teacher at CedarBridge, the parent said they didn’t know how many vacancies remained at the school.The Ministry of Education declined to give a figure.When schools opened last month, Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith said 23 vacancies had been mostly filled, but said that “our difficulty has been in receiving timely responses to allow us to conclude the certification and immigration processes from on our end”.Following the Tuesday night PTA meeting, two parents reported that CedarBridge staff had said they were struggling to cope with vacant posts.The parent who contacted this newspaper said they wouldn’t be surprised if gaps continued into November.“But at the end of the day, Government can’t run on excuses that they are waiting on these peoples’ transit visas,” the parent continued.“If all the other paperwork was done on time, and these people are not convicted criminals, there is no reason why they should be held up.”The source also questioned why the Ministry of Education had not requested temporary, three-month work permits for the overseas teachers, to get them quickly to the Island.Accusing the Ministry of Education of attempting to put the blame on the Department of Immigration, the parent added: “The worst part about it is, it’s all Government against Government — not private versus public.”The parent also commended CedarBridge staff for their candour over the shortages.“Realising that it was not the school’s fault directly, parents were very concerned. They told us the school will do its absolute best to get students taught.“But they encouraged us as parents to assist in any way we could at home, and told us they would not penalise students if they were not doing so well in a subject where they didn’t have a full time teacher.”