Incoming education commissioner Freddie Evans has vowed to remain dedicated to the position, saying he looks forward to serving for at least the next ten years.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette following his appointment on Monday, Dr Evans said that while he could not talk on specific plans at this stage, he pledged to support any students in the system who had experienced trauma and to champion sports and the arts.

The position of education commissioner has remained vacant since the resignation of Edmond Heatley in 2014 just eight months into the job. Dr Evans, who is Bermudian, has been acting commissioner.

With 33 years experience in the Bermuda education system under his belt, he says he is ready to take on the challenge.

He said: “I am absolutely dedicated. I would answer this way — I have got 33 years here and I look forward to the next ten or 13 years.

“I am honoured and humbled by the opportunity. My heart, soul and desire has always been to work for the betterment of the children of Bermuda’s public schools. We have wonderful students and teachers, and we need to make sure that we maximise opportunities for success.

“We also have students who have experienced trauma in their lives and for them I pledge to work every day to support them, to encourage them and to get the kind of counselling support that they need.

“My other head is in the sports world and I think that our students benefit so much from sporting opportunities, musical opportunities and those kind of things — you will see we need to promote and grow this.”

The position of education commissioner had been offered to Dubai-based Paul Wagstaff but he turned the position down for personal reasons. Many, including former Minister of Education Wayne Scott, had wanted a Bermudian in the position and Dr Evans said his experience on the island will give him an advantage.

“I have worked in every rank of the Bermuda public schools from teacher, team leader, deputy principal, principal, assistant director and now I have the awesome responsibility of sitting in the chair and having the opportunity to help direct and guide this.

“I do believe it is an opportunity to understand the dynamics of Bermuda public schools to have been in the school system, to know the hardship and successes and strengths of Bermuda public schools.

“I am humbled by that audacious responsibility but I do believe that I am ready for the challenge.”

Asked to comment on the Score [School Reorganisation] Report that highlighted the crumbling infrastructure across the public school system, Dr Evans reiterated that he would not speak on specific plans at such an early stage into his appointment but did emphasise the need for improvement.

He said: “We do have some environmental issues in schools that we are going to work through. I promise we will do this extensively. The former minister [Wayne] Scott gave me the opportunity to try to work through the issues with schools so I am dedicated to fixing that. I want our schools to have first-class environments for learning and I want our students to have what they deserve and for teachers to have environments where they will be more successful.”

A graduate of Jackson State University, Dr Evans received his doctorate in Education Administration and Development from Seton Hall University in New Jersey.

Roles he has filled include assistant principal at Clark High School for the Plano Independent School District in Plano, Texas; principal of the Whitney Institute Middle School; assistant director of educational standards and accountability in the Department of Education; acting director of educational standards and accountability, as well as acting commissioner.