The Bermuda Union of Teachers yesterday hit back at allegations it was holding up education reforms.

It accused the Ministry of Education of breaking a long-standing tradition of not commenting publicly on matters before arbitration.

And it accused Permanent Secretary of Education Marion Robinson of trying to "belittle'' deputy-principal hopeful Randolph Benjamin's qualifications. Dr.

Robinson this week confirmed a dispute between the BUT and education officials over new hiring practices had caused some delays in planned changes for the public school system.

The BUT and Northlands Secondary deputy principal Mr. Benjamin -- who applied for one of three deputy principal posts at the new senior secondary school at Prospect -- have called for a standardised test and personality profile, from Personnel Services, to be removed from the application process for new top posts in the reformed system.

The BUT says Dr. Robinson and Chief Education Officer Joseph Christopher have breached the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Teachers' terms and conditions of employment.

Both parties are expected to meet next week for arbitration.

BUT organiser Milton Scott took exception to Dr. Robinson's comments.

Stressing the union did not normally comment on matters which were before arbitration, Sen. Scott said: "It is most unfortunate that the Ministry of Education has chosen not to abide by this custom and practice.'' The BUT was confident it would be vindicated once the facts of the case were made public, he added.

Sen. Scott said the BUT was only prepared to state the following: It was concerned that Dr. Robinson would "seek publicly to belittle the qualifications and experience of Mr. Randolph Benjamin, an educator whose contributions to this community are impeccable; The substance of the grievance was not Mr. Benjamin, but a breach of the Collective Bargaining Agreement and Teachers' terms and conditions of employment; It was the Ministry of Education in consultation with the Attorney General's Chambers, Government Personnel Department and the Labour Relations Officer who insisted the matter was not an issue on which the BUT could file a grievance and held up the resolution process for close to a month; and It was only as a result of threatening legal action that the matter went to arbitration.

Both Sen. Scott and BUT president Michael Charles stressed the BUT had been at the forefront of acting in the interests of children.

"The Bermuda Union of Teachers has been in the forefront of advocating the cause of our Island's young people for far too long to now hold up the restructuring process,'' Sen. Scott said. "However, combined with our love for our young people is an obligation to ensure that integrity of the Collective Agreement that exists between ourselves and the Bermuda Government is not only maintained, but honoured by all social partners.'' "The delay was not done by us,'' Mr. Charles added. "If they (education officials) want to look at the reason for the delays, they should look in the mirror.'' Earlier this week Dr. Robinson said the dispute had already caused delays. And she said Mr. Benjamin's academic qualifications were not up to snuff in that he didn't have a university degree, but rather a four-year teacher training certificate in physical education.