The trimming of five days from the upcoming school year was branded a “travesty” by Shadow Education Minister Walton Brown — who suggested the agreement had been made over objections by Education Minister Nalton Brangman.There was no response last night from Government to the Progressive Labour Party MP’s suggestion that “our children and their progress is not their priority” — but remarks by Permanent Secretary Warren Jones when the shorter year was announced on Thursday made it clear that the Ministry had to make the best of an unavoidable compromise.Challenged to explain how the reduced academic year wouldn’t have an impact on learning, Mr Jones responded that the deal — in which public sector workers agreed to give up 12 working days out of the year — had been negotiated by the Bermuda Trade Union Congress, rather than the teachers’ own union bodies.“There isn’t an alternative; there weren’t any exceptions,” Mr Jones said. “This was the best we could get.”When asked if the shorter year would detract from teacher training, Mr Jones told The Royal Gazette: “The principals have determined that we would be looking at job-embedded professional development — as opposed to closing school for professional development.”The two-year package deal means Government employees surrender a working day from each month, as part of a 4.6 percent reduction in pay. For teachers, the arrangement means five days less in school since the academic year commences halfway through the fiscal year.Yesterday, Mr Brown said the One Bermuda Alliance had signalled that it was “acceptable to jettison our children so that monies can be saved, while many millions of dollars in tax concessions are granted to businesses that would otherwise be available to the government”.Mr Brown maintained that the reduction would have an impact on teacher training and professional development.He conceded: “To be fair, I know this announcement by the Minister had to have been a difficult one for him since he was the champion of extending the school day to provide a greater range of opportunities for our young people. This is clearly a step in the other direction.“The fact that the Premier and other members of Cabinet could sit around the table and agree to this, most likely over Minister Brangman’s objections, tells me a great deal about the importance they place on the education of our young people. Funding for education has been cut; school days have been cut. What will be cut next?”Mike Charles, of the Bermuda Union of Teachers, said part of the concern for teachers derived from the fact that educators had only recently learned of the arrangement — “some of them for the first time”.And one public schoolteacher, who requested not to be identified, agreed: “Obviously, they didn’t discuss it with us. You see what happens when there is no consultation? Just like you heard about it, that’s how we did. Everything in the last 24 hours we’re only just finding out about.”The teacher agreed that cutting days was the only sensible option — “otherwise they’d have to pay a substitute teacher to come in”.“I thought initially they were prepared to extend the school day. But because of the financial crisis, it’s going to be shortened.“In terms of teaching, it leaves us with no wiggle room. We are going to have to come in and hit the deck running.”A father of a six-year-old primary schoolgirl told this newspaper: “It would be nice if the number of days in the school year could be based on how much the schoolchildren need to learn, not how much time off the teachers need to take.“I’d like to think most schools will find a way of making sure the children don’t miss out. But it doesn’t fill me with confidence when those at the top effectively decide the solution to an economic issue is to shut schools for a few days.”