The new Education Permanent Secretary is aiming for fast results as she bids to solve some of the issues facing the department.

Michelle Khaldun takes over her new position next month and the businesswoman is anticipating some successes in certain areas, possibly literacy, within a year.

The Bank of Butterfield senior manager said she believed her business experience will help her blow out some of the cobwebs and improve efficiency in the Ministry.

With issues like literacy and staff unrest high on the agenda, the 45 year old said she was not afraid of ruffling a few feathers to resolve some of the problems.

"I will have to sit down with educators,'' Ms Khaldun told The Royal Gazette . "This is not about five year plans, like in the business world we have to see what we can accomplish within one year -- setting some goals and targets and getting some successes. Once people see success, then you can build upon that -- year by year it will get better.'' Ms Khaldun is confident education staff will be receptive to new ideas and said she hoped that they will be able to bring their experience to the table -- melding her professional acumen with their in-the-field knowledge.

And although she acknowledges her background has not been in education, she points out that it was not a requirement of the post. And, she adds, as a mother of three, a former schools lobbyist, and having been responsible for study programmes at her bank, she is well equipped for the job.

"I am passionate about what education can do for human beings,'' she said.

"I am a mother and the mother is the first educator of a child.

"I don't think it will be a drawback. I am not there to impose any kind of theory on people. I am looking for them to use their expertise and to see what they think, so we can pull a plan together and hold them accountable for that plan.

"I have been able to achieve in the business world because I am a trail blazer.'' And with an eye for figures, coming from her work at the business banking section, one of the first things Ms Khaldun will look at will be a departmental audit carried out last year.

"Bermudian people want value for money,'' she said. "Finance is my background and I am very aware of what the bottom line should be. However, we are developing a product -- children -- that are being produced in our society.

"I will be looking at efficiency, where the dollars are spent. We want to make sure these dollars improve the product.'' She said she viewed her role as that of facilitator, helping others achieve change via her management expertise. And central to that ideal will be encouraging staff to entertain new ideas and "think outside the box''.

As well as leaving the Bank of Butterfield, Ms Khaldun will resign her position as chairman of the Bermuda Land Development Company to concentrate fully on her new position, which she starts on November 29.

Business sense: Incoming Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Education, Michelle Khaldun, plans to draw on a few areas of expertise for her new role, that of a successful businesswoman and that of a busy mum.