The Bermuda Union of Teachers has said that the strain on teachers undergoing education reform in the public school system has become “unbearable and entirely unacceptable”.

The Royal Gazette reported last week on a series of accusations the union posted on X.

In a statement, Dante Cooper, the general secretary of the BUT, opened by saying that the Department of Education had failed to properly prepare for teacher absences by keeping an adequate substitute teacher list.

The union went on to detail safety concerns and staffing challenges in the signature schools, as reported previously in the Gazette.

It claimed that inaction by the education ministry and department were “abusive”.

On the issue of teacher subs, Mr Cooper said: “This is an ongoing concern and this union has articulated this concern several times in recent months. Blaming teachers for a systemic failure is untenable and we will not let it stand.”

He continued: “Furthermore, issues of safety, scheduling, contracts, staffing and air-quality continue to plague schools, and school staffs, throughout Bermuda, and, for us, enough is enough.

“All of these systemic failures by the Department of Education conspire to make teachers ill daily — and the powers that be are fully aware of these concerns. They have, in fact, been aware of them for far too long.

“The Ministry of Education and the DoE should be ashamed for letting this situation deteriorate to these depths. These are not new issues. The BUT has filed numerous grievances about these exact issues — going back several years now — yet nothing has changed. It is, in fact, worse now.”

Mr Cooper said the “heavily championed” signature school programme had yet to be fully staffed.

He added: “There are classes on student schedules that have remained teacherless since they were created.

“At the CedarBridge Academy, these classes are covered by in-house staff, as there is no one to teach technical skills classes available. So, technical and vocational courses — the ‘signature’ courses — are not being taught. The public spin is very pretty — the ideas are grand; but, at the moment, the execution is leaving a considerable amount to be desired.

“This union finds the inaction of the MoE and DoE to be abusive, and exceedingly disingenuous — why are we not hiring teachers for the brilliantly conceived ‘signature’ programmes? Why are we stretching our most valuable assets (our highly qualified and competent teachers) to their limits just to window-dress a programme that is clearly not ready to be launched yet?”

Mr Cooper highlighted staffing and safety concerns at Dame Marjorie Bean Hope Academy in Devonshire, reported by the Gazette, and described statements to the media as “defensive and deflective at best, and downright invidious and dismissive at worst”.

He charged that the ministry had publicly named the BUT representative at CedarBridge Academy last week, a claim the Gazette has put to the Government.

Mr Cooper accused the ministry of “strong-arm tactics” that he said were “not becoming of a government wing that is charged with educating the children of any country”.

He said the union backed the public school system but said “things must be done right”.

“If a course is to be offered in the ‘signature’ programme, it must have a teacher. If a legitimate safety concern is brought to the attention of the powers that be, it must be corrected.

“If a teacher, or other member of staff, is working without a contract, and not being compensated fairly, it must be rectified.”

Mr Cooper called on the ministry and department to “work collaboratively”.

He added: “We remain steadfast and committed to supporting our teachers and advocating for changes that will enhance teaching and learning in the Bermuda public school system.”

The Ministry of Education has been approached for comment.