The Education Ministry should look to retired teachers in addressing problems in the public school system.

Bermuda Union of Teachers organiser Milton Scott threw out this suggestion yesterday after reviewing an unprecedented study of the education system.

The study -- carried out by a team led by associate professor of educational administration at Iowa State University William Poston -- pointed out a slew of deficiencies, including: System-wide planning was "fragmented and inordinate''; Staff development was "uncoordinated and unfocused on measured teacher needs''; The Ministry's policy was inadequate to ensure quality curriculum control; and School facilities were "inequitable in adequacy, maintenance, and accessibility''.

"The report is a shocking indictment on all aspects of our school system,'' Sen. Scott said, noting Education Minister Jerome Dill said "things were going fine'' when the audit was commissioned last year.

Sen. Scott pointed out that the report highlighted many complaints raised by the BUT during the past decade.

And he the BUT, like other education-related bodies, desired "to play a more active role'' in education decisions.

"If such involvement had been in place, I think we would have seen all parties involved in sharing responsibility in dealing with the issues raised,'' he said.

"But the (Education) Ministers and others have tended to stick their heads in the sand and have not addressed problems.'' Among the audit team's suggestions were: Developing and implementing a participatory decision-making process for programme and system improvement; Consolidating the Ministry of Education on one central site; Restructuring roles and responsibilities of administrative personnel to ensure sound and effective organisational practices; Designing and implementing a sound and focussed staff development plan to maximise human resource development and effective curriculum delivery; and Adopting a four-year plan for implementation of a programme-based budget and allocation system to improve cost-effectiveness and efficiency.

Noting that the recommendations in the audit report required long-term planning, Sen. Scott suggested the Ministry should seriously consider calling on the services of retired educators.

"There are about five or six consultants on staff to help them run this system,'' he pointed out. "If they have to rely on so many consultants that should be a warning.

"The administration at number six Point Finger Road are incapable of implementing the recommendations because they are burdened with restructuring.

So we should use locals as well as overseas educators.'' Despite frequent criticisms about the size of the Education Department, the audit team found that the ratio of teachers per central office administrator -- 16:8 -- was "slightly higher'' than the American average of 12:7 teachers per administrator.

"Generally, the larger the number of teachers per central office administrator the greater the efficiency of the system,'' the report noted.

"In Bermuda, this appears to be tolerably efficient when judged in terms of staffing comparisons with other systems.'' The team also noted that the number of students per central administrator -- 182:1 -- was less than the American average.

"But the difference is small,'' it added. "In summary, the administrative staffing levels of the Bermuda Ministry of Education are appropriate in terms of other similar systems and the comprehensive nature of demands upon management for continual improvement of quality in the community.'' Sen. Scott admitted that he believed most of the officers at the Education Department were "highly competent''.

"They just have to get rid of that little clique that think they should have all the control in their hands,'' he said. "If any of the major companies, whether international or local, had received a report like this, the CEO of the company would have been called in and asked to submit his or her resignation.

"I would hope that Government would look at the Minister and the Permanent Secretary. We need to look at how we can bring together better accountability.'' Sen. Scott added that while he was convinced that Mr. Poston's team of auditors were credible based on their observations, the BUT would like to see the original draft of the report.

National PTA president Anthony Steede, who met with Mr. Dill during the weekend, said the group had not read the report in its entirety.

But judging by what they had read, Mr. Steede said: "It's a very intense, very detailed document.

"I think it's been made to sound a lot worse than it is. But that's all that I'm prepared to say at this stage.''