Former Education Minister Randolph Horton yesterday hit back at "ludicrous" critics who claim schools reform is not happening quickly enough.

Mr. Horton — whom according to Premier Dr. Ewart Brown was fired last November for being too slow with reform — listed a host of achievements the Ministry has made which he argued proved such doubters wrong.

Speaking in the Education Budget debate in the House of Assembly, Mr. Horton said: "People who say it's been too slow don't know that much about education.

"Even our Minister himself (Elvin James) has said how so long it's going to take. Anyone out there who's dreaming that it's going to happen overnight needs to wake up out of his dream.

"We have had people in the Ministry who are working hard. We have people in our schools working hard. We don't want to lose sight of the fact that these people continue to work hard.

"When (Professor David) Hopkins came here, we were off the track. We are on the track now. It's up to all those who are here now to make sure that we continue on the track and that we reach the goal that our young people deserve.

"We hear a lot of talk about 'ain't nothing happened, ain't nothing happening'. I think that's ludicrous. If nothing's happened there's a lot of people here who have been seemingly wasting their time. I don't think that's the case."

Explaining why he replaced Mr. Horton four months ago, the Premier had said: "It was clear that we were not making the kind of progress that I would like to make."

Many people have suggested the real reason was that Dr. Brown was angry about reports Mr. Horton was considering making a challenge for the leadership of the Progressive Labour Party.

Yesterday, Mr. Horton underlined why he believes progress is being made.

"If you move into our schools now, you will find there's a change in culture. We see principals in classrooms much more," he told the House.

He said steps included improvements in literacy, the professional development programme for teachers and changes to the Education Act to increase accountability.

"The train is on the track," he said. "I just encourage the rest of Bermuda to support the Minister as he moves forward to continue the work we are doing in our education system.

"I'm tired of hearing certain people talking about how things ain't moving. I'm moved to let all know there's been movement and that our schools are getting better. They are still far away from where we want them to be, but if we look at where they were two years ago and what's happening now, there's a decided difference.

"I take my hat off to all those working in the Ministry and working in schools that have helped to shift it."