A recent civil service hiring freeze will not have an impact on the hiring of substitute teachers, the Department of Education announced this afternoon.

A statement issued by the department said that “the matter relating to the hiring of substitute teachers has been resolved”.

It came in response to an Opposition statement that accused the Government of abandoning the Island’s schoolchildren.

Lovitta Foggo, the Shadow Minister of Education, said that educational manpower had been cut, calling it “wholly unacceptable” and adding: “The [One Bermuda Alliance] Government assured us during their most recent budget debate that the education profession would not be negatively impacted. In fact, when the substitute teacher budget was severely slashed from $1.8 million down to $500,000, the OBA’s response was that with the restructuring that they would put in place, the substitute services would run as per normal.”

A department spokeswoman replied that it remained committed to ensuring that public school students received a quality education.

Education minister Wayne Scott added: “There was a temporary interruption in hiring. But from the outset the Government had resolved to exempt teaching staff from the mandated freeze and never agreed to cut substitute teachers.”