Fifteen new education officer posts being advertised by Government represent no overall increase in Education Ministry staff, an official said yesterday.

Dr. Joseph Christopher, senior education officer for curriculum, said that in the past some teachers had worked out of Ministry headquarters and served as resource teachers to the rest of the system.

Now, they were being redesignated as education officers and would move to the Bermuda Public Services Association from the Bermuda Union of Teachers.

Their roles would also change, as part of the restructuring of Bermuda's school system, he said.

As teachers, they provided resources mainly to other teachers, but as education officers, they would be available year-round and act as resource officers for both teachers and principals. For example, a principal could call in an education officer for mathematics if he or she felt the school's maths teacher was not performing up to standard.

The education officers would also help in curriculum development.

"Essentially, what we are looking at is improving our service to schools,'' he said.

None of the teacher's salaries would be reduced because of the change, Dr.

Christopher said. He would not say whether any salaries would increase.

Seven education officer posts were advertised in the Official Gazette on Saturday, with salaries ranging from about $62,500 to $72,000. They included education officers for science, foreign languages, language arts, business studies, mathematics, and social studies.

Dr. Christopher said there would be 15 such posts in all.

The education officers would be available to teachers and principals at all school levels -- primary, middle, and senior secondary, he said.