New head teachers are needed to run three public schools — but appointments have yet to be made with little more than a month to go before term begins.

Teachers, parents and students are in the dark about who will be in charge at Paget, West Pembroke and Victor Scott primary schools in September.

Teachers' union leader Mike Charles told The Royal Gazette last night: "Right now, as far as we know, nobody knows. It's very unfortunate. I don't know what can be done about it but this is how teachers function, this is the atmosphere in which we function, on a daily basis."

Victor Scott parent-teacher association president Rena West said: "We have heard nothing. We are not happy because we would like to know who the new principal will be.

"We would like to know what sort of person it is going to be, what sort of leadership style they have. We have no clue."

The Ministry of Education said yesterday that recommendations on the appointments had been made to the Public Service Commission (PSC). "Parents will be informed as soon as the appointments have been confirmed by the PSC," said a spokesman.

Mr. Charles, general secretary of Bermuda Union of Teachers, said his members would appreciate being kept in the loop.

"It really is disconcerting to teachers that they have left for vacation and they don't know who is going to be there. At the rate we are going, we might not know until September.

"It's something which happens all the time. Teachers have to put up with it. We don't know because nobody says anything. They [the Ministry] continue to talk about performance and accountability, but...those words only deal with teachers and it doesn't deal with the administration."

Lisa Smith, president of the Association of School Principals, said she was told at a meeting this week that no decisions had been made on the three posts.

She said the Ministry had been "very proactive this year" in seeking to fill the roles and had interviewed candidates before schools finished for the summer.

"There is a process," she said. "It has to go through the PSC. They [the Ministry] interviewed early. They made recommendations early. For whatever reason, and I don't understand the reason so I can't speak to it, we are not any further in the process than we were previously."

PSC chairman Nelda Simons would not comment on the appointments. "We deal with paperwork when it comes in," she said. "That's the extent of my answer to you. I do not discuss the affairs of the Public Service Commission with the media."

West Pembroke principal Carol Figueiredo retired this summer, while Wendell Smith is understood to have left Paget after a period of illness.

Gina Tucker, head teacher of Victor Scott, was told in June that she had to leave the school after an arbitration involving her and a member of staff who filed a grievance against her.

Dr. Tucker would not comment yesterday on whether she had been told what her new job would be in September.

The three primary schools are without principals at a time when the Ministry of Education is also missing key leadership figures.

Apart from being without a permanent Minister since El James lost his Cabinet post earlier this month, there are a number of vacant senior posts.

The Ministry refused yesterday to provide information on how many positions need to be filled but it is believed that several director and assistant director posts are empty.

Education permanent secretary Kevin Monkman told this newspaper last week: "We will be looking to fill the vacant posts. We will be advertising shortly."