Extra spending alone won’t translate into better results, Education Minister Wayne Scott told Parliament yesterday, defending the $127 million allocated — a drop of five per cent.

Mr Scott called the amount acceptable for the public school system’s reforms, saying there had been an assumption that “spending more equates to a better education” — whereas the proper allocation of funding was critical.

He said the Department of Education was moving away from business as usual by shifting from a “transactional to a transformational” service focused on team building, collaboration, efficiency and “effective communication with principals, teachers, students, administration, parents and the broad community”.

Lovitta Foggo, Shadow Minister for Education, called it “the one area that we should be loathe to cut”, and questioned how public school reforms could be implemented on a tighter budget.

The appointment of a new commissioner of education, and whether the post would be given to a Bermudian candidate, featured prominently in the Opposition’s queries.

Ms Foggo commended restoring Education to a ministry of its own, but questioned why a commissioner still had not been appointed, as had been hinted in January by Premier Michael Dunkley.

“I would hope that the commissioner is indeed coming from the workforce already in place,” she said.

Progressive Labour Party MP Walton Brown said that he had initially supported the 2013 appointment of United States educator Edmond Heatley, who “left under a cloud” last year after just eight months on the job.

With so much time to train up a Bermudian candidate, Mr Brown asked: “Why are we not in a position now to appoint someone?”

That question was echoed by Opposition MP Derrick Burgess, who said: “That nonsense started under us, putting in requirements that no one here can achieve. I’m hoping this present government can do the right thing and hire a Bermudian ... Don’t be like Government House, that disregarded the qualifications of the people of this country.”

The minister said that a new commissioner was expected to be in place by the start of the 2015-16 academic year.

Mr Burgess also asked the minister to tell the House which schools were in line for consolidation and which might close in the upcoming fiscal year.

These were questions Mr Scott did not have time to address in the House, although he pledged to take questions from the Opposition after yesterday’s session.

In his Budget brief, the minister said the current session would include amendments to the Education Act allowing “for active and meaningful involvement of parents in their children’s learning at home and/or school”.

A “transformation plan” lies ahead for the Island’s middle school system, which the Opposition has said it would phase out entirely if returned to government.

National strategies are now under way in literacy and maths.

“In order to deliver a first-class education in literacy and mathematics for Bermuda’s public school students, there is an urgent need to improve the quality of teaching and learning in these core subjects in every classroom,” Mr Scott said.

“The National Literacy and Mathematics Strategies were designed to provide a strategic three-year plan that will improve the literacy and mathematics outcomes of Bermuda’s students by 2017 through the transformation of learning and teaching in our schools.”

A leadership development programme is under development for educators and officials, and should be designed by the end of this school year, Mr Scott said. Also during this year, the Department has been tasked with finding ways to streamline the number of substitute teachers. School psychology, meanwhile, has been “challenged” by staff shortages, with one school psychologist retiring after a long absence.

“The process to fill the vacant post is ongoing as there is a need to restructure this section,” said Mr Scott.