The President of the Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) will be a full-time job starting in September.

Keisha Douglas is currently the President of the Union.

She became the leader of the BUT in 2007 and is the head of mathematics at Berkeley Institute.

Ms Douglas has worked in education for 16 years and was made a union representative her first day on the job.

BUT General Secretary Mike Charles said the Union had always wanted a full-time President but it wasn't an option in the past.

Ms Douglas will be paid by the Union and her salary will not cause a rise in membership fees. "Keisha will be in the office full-time as of September. She's seconded from Berkeley for a two-year period. We have always liked to have our President full-time simply because there's so much work to do.

"I am the only person who works for the union. Keisha works but it's part-time. Really, we would have loved to do it before, but over the years we couldn't afford it.

"Now that we find ourselves in a better position, we are able to do that."

Mr. Charles explained how the role will be different than previous years.

"She will be dealing with the professional side of things and I will be dealing with the industrial relations. Professional as far as professional development, visiting with teachers and school.

"As a part-time President, she could only do after school hours and by that time, teachers have done home."

Mr. Charles said in the past, there was an agreement with the Ministry of Education where the BUT President had one day a week off to do Union related activity.

But he said it wasn't enough time in order to get everything done.

"We have been working on this for a long time", he added.

The Union has been in existence for the past 90 years and recently moved into its own building.

Lisa Trott was the President of the Union before Ms Douglas.