Some staff, hired to help teachers with "special'' students, are in need of attention themselves, educators have claimed.

And frustrated teachers have suggested that the Education Ministry should set up its own training programme for teacher assistants.

"The Ministry is placing the least experienced person to take on the biggest responsibility,'' one concerned teacher said, "and who suffers -- everybody''.

The teacher was one of several who voiced concerns at a recent education forum about the qualifications of teacher assistants or paraprofessionals who have been hired in public schools to help special needs children in a regular classroom setting.

The topic came up during Government behavioural specialist Judith Bartley's talk on the support services that will be available in the reformed public school system.

With many of the changes expected to be implemented this September, Dr.

Bartley told those gathered at the Phi Delta Kappa function at Elliott Primary School that teacher assistants will have to work closely with teachers and develop lesson plans that all students can understand.

Dr. Bartley also disclosed that a director of special education will be hired and six learning support teachers to focus on three levels of special needs children.

Level one will be for those students functioning full time in the regular classroom, she explained. Level two will be children who need about an hour of service from the learning support teacher or from a paraprofessional either in or out of the classroom, and level three will be those children who need more support.

Three learning support teachers will also be hired to serve students in the classroom with a paraprofessional who will be with the child all of the time or pulled aside in a special area if available, she added.

"It works if we are determined to make it work,'' Dr. Bartley said. But she stressed that teachers and their assistants must be matched by personalities.

But teachers complained that some teacher assistants had little more than nursery teacher qualifications and were not equipped to help them teach.

One female educator said some of the teacher assistants she worked with lacked basic skills and some were special-needs people themselves.

Another frustrated teacher said: "They (education officials) show the disdain for special people by putting in the people they have responsible for them.

"Tell the Ministry to show the respect that is due to these children by adequately training everyone.'' He said he also sensed the same resentment from some teachers about inclusion which came about as a result of changes to the Human Rights Act.

And some teachers admitted that they felt inclusion was thrust on them without an explanation or proper planning.

But Education Minister Jerome Dill said such concerns about teacher assistants had not come to his attention. He promised to speak with senior education officer of Student Services Joeann Smith about them.

Ms Smith said she was surprised to hear about the complaints.

"It's seldom that a day goes by without someone asking for a teaching assistant,'' she said.

And Ms Smith noted that while the Ministry required paraprofessionals to have two-year teaching assistant certificate from the Bermuda College, some had bachelor degrees.

"The Ministry views the Bermuda College certificate as a basic prerequisite on which we build additional training,'' she said.

Teacher assistants But associate dean of the college's Continuing and Applied Studies, Helen Pearman-Ziral told The Royal Gazette that the teacher assistants who graduated from the college's Child Care certificate programme were only qualified to assist students from pre-school to age 12.

Explaining that the programme was revised several years ago from the nursery training certificate programme, Mrs. Pearman-Ziral said: "It is really a paraprofessional programme geared for that level at the moment.'' And although the College planned to develop an associate degree child care programme, she noted that she had received "no clear indication'' from the Education Ministry "as to what they would like to see''.

And Ms Smith noted that the Ministry provided training to all paraprofessionals, particularly for those working with children with behavioural problems.

"Training is critical,'' she said. "We've done quite a bit, and we will continue to do so.'' But, Ms Smith said, teacher assistants were supposed to follow the instructions of the teachers. "They are not teachers,'' she pointed out.

Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith -- who is also Shadow Education Minister -- said the Ministry must first define the role of teacher assistants, draw up a job description, and determine the credentials they need to do the job.

"They will also have to find out from teachers what they need because they are on the frontline,'' she added.

"Whether they use retired teachers or people who teach part-time (as paraprofessionals), you would want the person to come in and help the teachers because that was the purpose of the teacher assistants programme in the first place.'' Teacher assistants But associate dean of the college's Continuing and Applied Studies, Helen Pearman-Ziral told The Royal Gazette that the teacher assistants who graduated from the college's Child Care certificate programme were only qualified to assist students from pre-school to age 12.

Explaining that the programme was revised several years ago from the nursery training certificate programme, Mrs. Pearman-Ziral said: "It is really a paraprofessional programme geared for that level at the moment.'' And although the College planned to develop an associate degree child care programme, she noted that she had received "no clear indication'' from the Education Ministry "as to what they would like to see''.

And Ms Smith noted that the Ministry provided training to all paraprofessionals, particularly for those working with children with behavioural problems.

"Training is critical,'' she said. "We've done quite a bit, and we will continue to do so.'' But, Ms Smith said, teacher assistants were supposed to follow the instructions of the teachers. "They are not teachers,'' she pointed out.

Opposition Leader Jennifer Smith -- who is also Shadow Education Minister -- said the Ministry must first define the role of teacher assistants, draw up a job description, and determine the credentials they need to do the job.

"They will also have to find out from teachers what they need because they are on the frontline,'' she added.

"Whether they use retired teachers or people who teach part-time (as paraprofessionals), you would want the person to come in and help the teachers because that was the purpose of the teacher assistants programme in the first place.''