Veteran civil servant Joeann Smith is continuing to act as Chief Education Officer in the absence of a permanent appointment, the Ministry of Education revealed last night.

Eight months after a team of experts advised a CEO be installed immediately, officials yesterday said the position would be advertised once the restructuring of the Ministry has been determined.

The Ministry – which was criticised this week for "moving the deck chairs on the Titanic" by continuously switching personnel in key roles – said it was also currently without a Senior Education Officer.

It has been without a permanent CEO – the second in command after the Permanent Secretary – since Joseph Christopher took ill in October, 2006 and later retired, with Mrs. Smith standing in on a temporary basis.

Bermuda Union of Teachers general secretary Mike Charles, whose organisation represents more than 900 educators, this week told this newspaper he understood the acting CEO position finished on December 31.

However, the Ministry said in a brief statement yesterday: "Mrs. Joeann Smith is currently acting as Chief Education Officer. Once the restructuring of the organisational structure is determined, the position of Chief Education Officer within the Ministry of Education will be advertised.

"As of today, the position of Senior Education Officer in the Ministry of Education, previously held by Dr. Craig Nikolai, has not been filled."

UK professor David Hopkins and his team reported in May 2007 that the Ministry was in dire need of "an immediate change of senior personnel" after carrying out a comprehensive review of the public school system.

The highly critical Hopkins report recommended "the appointment of a new experienced Chief Education Officer (CEO) on a short term contract to lead and manage the implementation of the educational reforms and a Permanent Secretary to manage the change process politically".

Education Minister Randy Horton did appoint Henry Johnson as consultant executive officer for education in September but BUT claims it is not clear if he is carrying out the CEO's duties.

The lack of a permanent CEO has coincided with the departure of Permanent Secretary Rosemary Tyrrell after the Hopkins report was published and three different acting Permanent Secretaries since.

The report said last May that "leadership of education is in reality confused; roles are not properly delineated and lack of continuity in education policy stems from frequent changes of both Minister and changes of senior professional and education officers".

A source told this newspaper that a serious shake-up of the Ministry was due to take place shortly with three CEOs, all with different responsibilities, likely to be appointed. "There is a new hierarchy that is, I guess, eventually going to emerge," said the source.

A teacher, who asked not to be named, said many educators felt that there was still a lot of dead wood at the Ministry.

"At this point it's almost like no matter who you put there, what difference will it make? For so long we have had people going through the motions shuffling papers. There is a not a whole lot of confidence there."

Mr. Horton is off the Island. Questions the Ministry did not respond to yesterday were:

• Is it true that the Ministry is set to appoint three new CEOs, one of whom will be a primary school teacher, as part of the restructuring of the Ministry?

• How many senior education officers does the Ministry have, who are they and what are they responsible for? Are any on long-term leave at the moment? Are there any vacancies for senior education officers right now?

• How many education officers does the Ministry have? Are there any vacancies for education officers?

Freddie Evans, president of the Association of School Principals, said yesterday he did not wish to comment on the situation at the Ministry.

A new Board of Education is to be announced next Friday, along with the rest of the Government boards.