A long-term plan for the island’s public schools is completed, education minister Diallo Rabain said.

Mr Rabain added that the plan had been presented to the Board of Education and ratified by board members.

The minister said that as the parent of a child in a public school it was rewarding to have helped in the plan’s creation.

He said: “I attended several community meetings and joined in with other parents and community advocates of public school education to provide the necessary input and feedback on what we desired to see for transforming our public school system.

“I look forward to sharing the final product with my colleagues shortly.”

Mr Rabain said he planned to make the plan available to interested groups and the public by next month.

The minister added another report was being drawn up on health and safety inspections in all public schools.

Mr Rabain said: “I anticipate receiving the report so we can look to put together a comprehensive plan to address the findings.”

He added that the plan to conduct building surveys on schools “is still forthcoming and on track to commence in the near future”.

Mr Rabain declined to comment as to who would succeed Freddie Evans as commissioner of education.

He said: “At this time, I cannot comment in detail about the post of commissioner of education.

“However, I do want to assure key stakeholders and the general public that despite the current transition in leadership, the Department of Education continues to deliver on the educational programmes and services needed to ensure our students are receiving a quality education.”

Dr Evans was declared out of the job last month in an e-mail to principals and teachers from Education permanent secretary Valerie Robinson-James — even though he could only be fired by the Governor.

Education bureaucrats, however, were forced into an about-turn just days later and wrote that “an administrative error” in correspondence to Dr Evans meant he had not been fired at all.

Mr Evans was later removed from his post by Governor John Rankin, but Mr Evans’s lawyer Mark Diel said his client could only be sacked inside his probation period, which finished at the end of September.

Mr Diel said at the time that the battle would now end up in the courts for a judge to decide.

Mr Rabain thanked educational staff for their hard work in the wake of Dr Evans’s departure.

He added: “The continued support, underscored by strong principal leadership at each school during the past month is very encouraging.

“The work that goes on in our schools every day is critically important and our principals, teachers and support staff in schools are committed to ensure that their respective schools are actively engaged in sustaining an environment needed for effective teaching and continuous learning in the classroom.”