As Premier Jennifer Smith acknowledged in the House of Assembly on Friday night, the fact that so many MPs spoke in the debate on the Bermuda Educators Council Act illustrates just how importantly our elected representatives view education.

While the new legislation creating a council to implement and oversee the licensing and registration of teachers is in theory a sound idea, the Opposition is correct in questioning how the law will change the current situation in schools.

Describing the bill as “flawed in both vision and in content”, Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith pointed out that the bill would add more red tape and failed to address teaching standards.

His views were backed up earlier in the week by Bermuda Union of Teachers head Michael Charles who said that accepting teachers with a degree from a recognised training college and some initial teacher training was no different to the present set-up.

Mr. Charles raised several other major concerns.

The Government frequently claims to be a listening government. That claim was made again on Friday night when Education Minister Paula Cox backtracked on an earlier proposal to put a ceiling on the number of students home schools could teach.

But clearly Government has failed to listen to the principal group before drafting legislation on teacher licensing — the teachers themselves.