problems for the education system.

Teachers say that an arbitration decision which states that they should be paid overtime for any work done outside the 35 hours they are required to be at school is unworkable because they cannot verify how many hours they put in.

They are right on that point. No one can say how long it took for a teacher to mark books or draw up lesson plans. Nor does the award make allowances for teachers who may be more efficient at marking books or drawing up lesson plans than others.

Inevitably, this decision will also raise the problem of school holidays as well, when teachers are not at work. Teachers do spend parts of the school holidays preparing classrooms and upgrading their skills.

But part of the reason they receive longer holidays than virtually any other professional is that they are expected to put in a great deal of extra time during the school year, marking books and preparing reports and lessons.

To now state that they will do no work outside of the 35 hours they are required under their contract throws the whole philosophy of the school year into disarray. For many years, teachers were under-valued and under-appreciated. Given the importance of education for the long- term benefit of the community, the teaching profession must be able to attract able and qualified men and women to its ranks. That cannot be done if pay and working conditions are not attractive.

But teachers should also accept that while pay and conditions may not be exactly what they desire, they are now better than they were and are broadly competitive with salaries offered in other fields of employment. According to the Government Budget, qualified teachers receive pay ranging from a starting salary of $42,854 to a top salary of $77,393.

Certainly, there is room for improvement. But it is not clear that if teachers wish to be treated as professionals, that the answer to the current problem is to refuse to do any work outside of 35 hours per week. Many professionals will put in extra work, not for pay, but in order to do a good job -- and their reward comes in the form of promotion and other benefits.

Arbitrator Clevelyn Crichlow has made what may appear to be a fair solution to the dispute between the Ministry and the Bermuda Union of Teachers. But if it is unworkable, teachers and the Ministry should go back to the bargaining table to decide a better way of ensuring that good teachers receive their just rewards for the work they put in.

The current impasse serves no one well.