the result of arbitration over their work hours.

The Bermuda Union of Teachers and the Government are expected to discover the decision of arbitrator, Postmaster General Clevelyn Critchlow, in the next few days.

And today and tomorrow, most of the Island's 800 teachers are expected to meet as the BUT's annual conference takes place at CedarBridge Academy.

BUT president Anthony Wolffe said the dispute will not find its way onto the agenda of the two-day event.

"We really don't talk shop at all,'' he said, adding that he believed most members would be happy to await the outcome of the voluntary arbitration session held last week.

"Once the arbitrator has made his decision, he will forward the decision to the labour relations officer, who will forward it to the two parties.

"We know what we went for and now it is really up to the arbitrator.'' The dispute surrounds the hours teachers split between supervising children and planning for lessons.

The BUT say their members should spend no more than 25 hours in direct contact with their students, leaving the remainder of their working week for preparation and other education duties.

But in recent times teachers have been exceeding the 25 hour limit and became angry as the Government failed to resolve the matter.

It came to a head when BUT members called in sick, closing all but two of the Island's Government run schools.

This week's conference will concentrate on professional development for teachers, with a number of workshops and training sessions.

There will be a speech by famous US school principal Joe Clark, who was the inspiration for the film "Lean on Me'' -- following his work in New Jersey schools.

The theme of the conference is "building on literacy, developing technological skills and moulding for the future''.

As well as workshops, there will be exhibitions by education resource firms.

In addition, around 60 teachers will be taking part in the Jason project at the Bermuda Biological Station for Research.

The conference starts this afternoon and continues through until tomorrow.

EDUCATION ED CONFERENCE CON