Secretary for Education Dr. Marion Robinson.

"But there are some,'' Dr. Robinson told The Royal Gazette .

That is why the Ministry's four-year-old Developmental Supervision Programme -- under which principals evaluate and report on their teachers' performance -- is important, Dr. Robinson said.

The Permanent Secretary was responding to controversy over recent comments by Dellwood Primary principal Mrs. Vivlyn Cooper in a speech to the Association of School Principals' 17th annual conference.

"Today we are faced with the monumental challenge of rescuing students from borderline teachers,'' Mrs. Cooper told the conference. "And there will be times when we must decide that an incompetent teacher has to be terminated.'' A "legally sound'' method should be used to supervise and document instructors' performances, as well as their termination, she added.

"Such procedures are embodied in Developmental Supervision because it is a process that dictates if nothing is happening in the classroom, then the teacher must think of pursuing some other satisfying career,'' Mrs. Cooper said.

Those comments drew a sharp response from the Amalgamated Bermuda Union of Teachers.

"We as teachers are sick and tired of bearing the brunt (of the criticism),'' said ABUT chief Mr. Milton Scott. "Especially considering we are the last to be consulted -- if we are consulted -- and we have little if any input into the development of sound educational policy.'' The ABUT is willing to look at the issue of accountability, as long as principals, education officers, the Permanent Secretary, and the Ministry itself are scrutinised as well.

Dr. Robinson said curriculum and test development are both done by teacher committees under the supervision of the Ministry.

And principals are scrutinised under Developmental Supervision, she said.

Also, the programme is primarily intended not to weed out bad teachers, but to help those who need assistance, Dr. Robinson said.

Mrs. Cooper said the programme, which is to be officially implemented in 1993-94, "allows us to not merely pass judgement on how good or how bad a teacher is, but instead to assist teachers as well as ourselves to experience professional growth in a manner consistent with the expectations of our system.''