Education Minister Randy Horton has rebutted a claim by his Opposition counterpart that he failed to tell school principals he was planning a review of the public education system.

Shadow Education Minister Neville Darrell alleged yesterday that the Minister did not tell the Association of School Principals (ASP) that he was going to set up an education board of inquiry following last week’s dismal graduation results.

But a spokesman for the Department of Education told The Royal Gazette last night: “The Minister stands by his comments that he had informed the president of the Association of School Principals of his plan for an independent review of the system.”

The ASP revealed last Thursday — on the same day the Government announced that just 48 percent of public school students graduated last summer — that it had issued a grievance against two Ministry of Education officials due to their refusal to engage in discussion about the need for educational reform.

Association president Freddie Evans could not be contacted yesterday and general secretary Alan Leigh said he could not comment on whether the Minister had informed the ASP of his decision to set up a board of inquiry. But Mr. Darrell said: “The United Bermuda Party is seriously concerned that the Minister of Education has lost the trust of school principals because of his intemperate and possibly misleading response to their valid concerns about the state of public education in Bermuda.

“We have reason to believe...that Education Minister Randy Horton did not actually tell the president of the Association of School Principals that he was going to set up an education board of inquiry, as reported by the press last week.

“If he did not tell the president, then it raises serious questions about the Minister’s credibility. It also leads us to question whether the board of inquiry was a last-minute, thrown-together initiative to deflect attention from the grievance filed by principals against education officials for their ‘lack of willingness’ to talk about education reform.”

Mr. Darrell claimed the ASP took its “unprecedented action” because the Government would not work with headteachers to improve education.

“We have received reports that the PLP Government has simply not responded to major concerns expressed by principals,” he said. “The Government pledged in its Throne Speech to use the expertise of our teachers to ‘address the challenges faced by our young people’.

“But the ASP grievance, which was supported the Bermuda Union of Teachers, flies in the face of that commitment.”

He said it was vital that the board of inquiry was “truly independent” and added: “The Government needs to recognise that it has a national crisis on its hands; that its neglect and apparent indifference to public education is damaging our children’s future and contributing to a breakdown of social cohesion. “There is no greater challenge before us as a country. We need a total commitment to doing what needs to be done to make sure that our children get the tools they need to succeed in life.” The Education spokesman said the Minister had communicated with the president of the ASP since last week and looked forward to working with him and his team to improve education. “The public will be updated on relevant details of the review,” he added. Kenneth Dill, head of the Civil Service, said yesterday he had received a letter from the ASP. The grievance relates to Education permanent secretary Rosemary Tyrrell and acting education officer Joeann Smith.

Mr. Dill added: “My next step is to meet with the parties to endeavour to settle the causes of the complaint.”