The Education Ministry may have to hire more teachers since Government has virtually halved the maximum number of students in primary school classes.

In the most recent issue of the Official Gazette, the new Progressive Labour Party government outlined rules for enrolment for first entry into public schools.

At the primary school level it noted that "enrolment is limited to a maximum of 15 pupils per class'', something that the PLP and many teachers and parents have been suggesting for years.

When contacted Chief Education Officer Joseph Christopher said the Ministry has reviewed staffing and was making provision for extra staff.

However, he added: "We're not making a final decision (on staffing numbers) until all (primary school student) applications are received.'' Meanwhile, the Ministry has advertised both locally and overseas a list of education posts.

In last Sunday's edition of The New York Times, the Ministry invited qualified teachers to apply for various positions in primary, middle and senior schools by March 5.

The posts included lower primary classroom teachers; an education therapist, mathematics teacher and design and technology teacher for Dellwood Middle School; French/Spanish teachers for Berkeley Institute and CedarBridge Academy; and reading specialists, learning support teachers for CedarBridge.

Other positions included speech language pathologists and occupational therapists.

Those interested in the posts, which carry salaries of $48,848 to $54,714 per year, have until February 26 locally or until March 5 -- if applying from overseas, to submit their applications.

Senior Manager of Human Resources, Veronica Todd, explained that the posts were advertised overseas for Bermudians and non-Bermudians.

"These (ads) are being placed locally,'' Mrs. Todd said. "They have been circulated to all Government schools. What was sent to the schools was more comprehensive.

"We just selected some posts, particularly specialists, to advertise overseas.'' While pointing out that many of the posts were advertised because they were filled by non-Bermudians whose contracts had expired, Mrs. Todd said there were also genuine vacancies and a shortage of Bermudian teachers in specialist areas.

"We're looking very easily in the area of 30 contract renewals,'' she said.

"The rest are vacancies as a result of persons leaving the system due to retirement or leaving the Island. We don't have the exact numbers because they are not obligated to notify us until March. In any given year we have 10 to 12 persons leaving.'' If Bermudians cannot be found to fill the vacancies or positions filled by non-Bermudians, often the contracts are renewed, Mrs. Todd added.

"We have a shortage of Bermudian teachers in particularly areas such as design and technology and fairly often in the sciences such as chemistry and physics,'' she noted.

"Last year we had trouble filling spots such as Spanish/French teachers and learning support teachers.

"Therefore whenever we give out sabbaticals, we prioritise according to the need of the system and specialised education comes up all the time.'' However, she pointed out that young Bermudians teachers were returning to the Island with degrees in specialised areas.

"But we also like for them to have a bit of regular classroom teacher experience before they get into the special education area,'' Mrs. Todd added.