the head of the Association of School Principals said yesterday.

Mr. Melvyn Bassett compared the loss of the Hon. Gerald Simons from the Education Ministry to losing the pilot of an airplane halfway between New York and Bermuda.

"The first word that came to mind when I heard (of the Cabinet shuffle) was outrage,'' Mr. Bassett told The Royal Gazette . "Right in the midst of our restructuring, at the time when we thought maybe he would need to see it through to completion, the Government has seen fit to make this change.

"It's ill-timed. I do hope that this doesn't mean that we will see further delays.'' Amidst a continuing uproar over education budget cuts and school reforms, Premier the Hon. Sir John Swan moved Mr. Simons to the Environment Ministry as part of a shuffle on Wednesday.

Mr. Simons did "a tremendous job'' as Education Minister for seven years, Mr.

Bassett said. Wednesday's move has "a negative psychological impact'' because it suggests lost momentum, he said.

Principals support Government's plans to restructure the school system "almost fully,'' and Mr. Bassett said he took comfort from incoming Education Minister the Hon. Clarence Terceira's comment that he was a man of action, not words.

"We would like to see some action,'' he said, adding that he hoped Dr.

Terceira would attend the annual principals' conference at Grotto Bay Beach Hotel today.

Mrs. Marian Askia, president of the National PTA, saw the change as "strictly a political move.'' The Warwick East constituency where Mr. Simons seeks re-election is considered marginal, and "to be really honest, they are trying to save Gerald's butt,'' Mrs. Askia said.

While the National PTA was one of Mr. Simons' most outspoken foes, Mrs. Askia was gentle in her criticism of the Minister as he left his post. "I don't think it was all his fault,'' she said. "I could sympathise with the restrictions that he was under.'' The Education Ministry under Mr. Simons "really didn't know what they were doing,'' but his greatest strength was accessibility and willingness to meet with parent representatives, she said.

The National PTA would immediately seek a meeting with Dr. Terceira, who she hoped would be willing to talk and listen as well as act. "I certainly hope that he gets the schools running as quickly as he got the incinerator up,'' she said.

National Liberal Party chairman Mr. Geoffrey Parker said if Sir John truly cared about education, he would take over the portfolio himself, "and bring order out of the chaos that exists in public education.'' It is time to take education out of the political arena and place it under "an independent bi-partisan commission,'' Mr. Parker said.

Independent MP Mr. Stuart Hayward, who saw his Pembroke West Central opponent the Hon. Ann Cartwright DeCouto moved to Works and Engineering from Environment to make way for Mr. Simons, said it would "probably be healthier for the environment that the new Minister won't see me as a political rival.'' Mr. Hayward said he had already written to Mr. Simons to request a meeting.

"I think that he is probably the most environmentally aware in the Cabinet,'' he said.

But the key motive in the Cabinet shuffle was "to move Dr. Terceira and his bullish way of doing things into Education,'' Mr. Hayward said. "The other shifting hinged around that.'' See Editorial -- Page 4.