Department and created unnecessary anxiety with his criticisms of the education system, Bermuda's top education officer said yesterday.

Mr. Dean Furbert described Dr. Archie Hallett's recent criticisms as "cavalier and unhelpful''.

He said the comments by the retired educator were "nothing more than an attack on the education system and serve only to undermine the work of the Department of Education and to create anxiety in the minds of parents and students''.

The counter-attack by Mr. Furbert is the second by a Ministry spokesman since Dr. Hallett's controversial speech last week to the Hamilton Rotary Club.

In a statement released yesterday, Mr. Furbert defended the Education Ministry's plans to restructure the education system.

The recently retired Dr. Hallett claimed that government's restructuring plan for the secondary school system should concentrate on reforming the classroom process, not consolidating separate institutions.

Agreeing that classroom procedures were important, Mr. Furbert said that changes in curriculum and instructional practices were included in the reform plan. Workshops for teachers were being conducted in the areas of general middle school instruction, science, language, arts and mathematics.

He said that the Ministry was planning to expand the workshops this year to include social studies.

Mr. Furbert also pointed out that the College itself was a product of restructuring. In 1974, three separate institutions were amalgamated to form what is now the Bermuda College.

Echoing remarks made last week by Education Minister, the Hon. Gerald Simons, Mr. Furbert said that the success of the Bermuda College reflected the effectiveness of government schools. He also said in his letter that "the school system has raised not only the performance of students but also their aspirations for further study.'' He went on to say that there was now a greater collaboration between the Education Ministry and Bermuda College lecturers in the review of curriculum and assessment of instruction procedures. He said that a number of College lecturers had commented "on the high level of professionalism of the teachers and the quality of the BSSC curriculum in a number of subjects''.