is a "frightening example of an authoritarian and closed system'' run by incompetent civil servants.

The sharp criticisms were made last week by former Health and Social Services Permanent Secretary Mr. David Critchley in an 11-page statement published in The Royal Gazette .

The statement, which mainly attacks the Education Ministry but also points out flaws in Child Development and other Government programmes, is expected to be the retired civil servant's last public commentary.

Mr. Critchley accused the Ministry of placing too little focus on the competence of teachers; failing to meet the needs of youngsters, particularly blacks, and being badly led by senior officers.

He also accused Education Permanent Secretary Dr. Marion Robinson of being inaccessible, noting that he was once chastised for calling her by her first name.

But yesterday Dr. Robinson said: "I think it's very sad that a man who spent 15 years as Permanent Secretary of Health and Social Services does not have a sense of personal achievement that he can celebrate rather than criticising the Education Ministry and the Permanent Secretary who has achieved something of which she can proud.

"However, I could not have done it without the commitment and support of all staff in the department and that's something of which I'm extremely proud.'' Education Minister the Hon. Gerald Simons said he too was proud of the great strides made by his Ministry.

While he admitted that "all Ministers at time are frustrated'', he said great accomplishments such as "significant progress among his Ministry in education reforms, outweigh this''.

Dr. Robinson, stressing her reluctance to compromise her professionalism by personally responding to Mr. Critchley's comments, said sometimes "to be criticised by some people constitutes the strongest compliments which one could receive''.

She said she corrected Mr. Critchley after he called her by her first name in a meeting because she was reared with the "traditional Bermudian value of showing respect for others by not using their first name unless you knew them very well''.

"It is a value that pervades my way of working with people at all professional levels,'' Dr. Robinson said, adding she hardly knew Mr. Critchley when he addressed her as Marion.

Dr. Robinson said staff training, particularly in preparing teachers for middle schools is a key priority with the Education Department.

"One emphasis is for teachers to respond sensitively to the personal needs of students,'' Dr. Robinson said. "I think the training programme we have focusses very much on the characteristics of the child.'' While admitting all teachers do not have a positive response to the needs of students, Dr. Robinson said "we're working toward that ideal''.

"Not every teacher is going to be able to have the same rapport with every child,'' she said, recalling she had to request assistance from other teachers when she could not establish rapport with a child during her teaching days.

"But in a school we capitalise on the skills and values of the entire staff,'' Dr. Robinson said. "That is why we have been developing school teams, including the principal, teacher who may be having the problem and the counsellor. They come together to discuss the problem and meet the child's needs. That's what restructuring is all about.'' Dr. Robinson said teachers also look to those in the Department of Social Services for support.

"That evaporated under Mr. Critchley,'' she said. "That's why we developed Student Services to meet that need that wasn't being met.'' However, Dr. Robinson said the department's Student Services team do interact with Social Services when students are living in residences operated by the Social Services department.

Dr. Robinson stressed that while staff development is needed for professionals in any department, she is not "aware of any professional development'' in Mr.

Critchley's former department.

Noting the Ministry's "Decade of the Eighties'' publication which outlines the education department's achievements during that decade and annual end-of-year education reports, Dr. Robinson said the education department has a "very structured management system'' which she introduced "whereby people can be held accountable''.

Dr. Robinson also said Mr. Critchley's accusation about her being inaccessible was unfounded.