Education no longer has a dedicated permanent secretary in government following the departure last month of Warren Jones.

Civil servant Mr Jones stepped down from the post after three years to take up a job as a chief executive officer of Polaris Holding Company.

A spokeswoman for the newly created Ministry of Education and Economic Development confirmed to The Royal Gazette yesterday that Mr Jones would not be replaced, as his role has been merged with that of Economic Development permanent secretary Ross Webber.

Mr Webber — a relative newcomer to Government — has gone from managing a small Ministry with a $27 million budget and 100 staff, to being in charge of the second largest Ministry in Government, with a total budget of more than $150 million, more than 1,200 employees and a student population of 5,100.

Mike Charles, general secretary of Bermuda Union of Teachers, claimed Mr Webber was unlikely to be able to handle both portfolios, as education was so time-consuming.

“If you really consider education as important as the Government claims it is, I really question that decision,” Mr Charles said. “I don’t question the PS, but I question the decision to put him there with two important Ministries like that.

“I think Warren did an excellent job — we were sorry to see him go. If you asked him, I’m sure he’d tell you his hands were full all the time with education.

“Warren was someone who had experience in education. He was a former principal, a teacher.

“To bring somebody in who is brand new and give them these two portfolios, I think it’s unfair to the person, and unfair to education.”

Government has given Mr Webber its complete backing, insisting last night he was “extremely qualified” for the role, which it said covered one portfolio, not two.

“The function of permanent secretary is one of executive management,” the Ministry spokeswoman said. “The PS is extremely qualified to perform his role as a permanent secretary. The Minister [Grant Gibbons] has every confidence in the abilities of the PS.

“There is no permanent secretary at the Ministry of Education because there is no Ministry of Education. There is a permanent secretary of the Ministry of Education and Economic Development.”

A former educator, who wished to remain anonymous, told this newspaper the decision to merge the roles made sense, as the creation in 2008 of the Commissioner of Education post made the permanent secretary position redundant.

“The PS has very little power and authority, much like a US vice president, so it’s no wonder that they are not keen to fill the position,” said the source. “More than likely, no one wants a position in the Ministry where they have no ‘juice’.”

Mr Jones handed in his notice as PS in October, after being made an offer by Polaris that he said he “couldn’t refuse”.

The two Ministries merged in early-December, following a Cabinet shuffle which saw full-time Education Minister Nalton Brangman sacked and part-time Economic Development Minister Dr Gibbons given the education portfolio.

Mr Charles said: “Way in advance, we knew [Mr Jones] was leaving [on December 31]. We were all waiting anxiously to see who was going to replace him. Somewhere along the way, they changed Ministers, so everything changed.”

He said the BUT’s 900-plus members were used to the ever-changing personnel in charge of the Ministry of Education.

Mr Jones was appointed in November 2010, replacing Kevin Monkman, who served in the role for two years. The PS post was vacant for 18 months before Mr Monkman’s appointment, after Rosemary Tyrrell moved elsewhere in the Civil Service. Ms Tyrrell served as Education PS for just a year-and-a-half.

There have been 11 different Education Ministers in the last 15 years, with Dr Gibbons himself saying in 2010: “The portfolio has been tossed from one Minister to the next like a hot potato, with each new appointment signalling chronic failure to take responsibility and get the job done.”

Mr Charles said: “We have lived with this now for many years, this constant revolving door. It was with the past Government and it’s with this Government. In 11 months, we have had two Ministers.

“This was the people [the One Bermuda Alliance] who, one of the mantras of their [election] campaign was the crisis that education was in, and this is what we get.”

Mr Webber joined Government in July 2012, according to his LinkedIn profile. He was previously director of business development at Conyers Dill & Pearman.