Education Director Marcellus Taylor responded to claims made by Bahamas Union of Teachers president Belinda Wilson that 100 new teachers have yet to be assigned or placed in a school.

Mrs. Wilson recently remarked that some 200 new teachers took part in teacher orientation in August, however 100 of them remain at home, waiting to be posted.

In a local daily, Mrs. Wilson also charged that the Ministry of Education has yet again failed.

Mr. Taylor, while acknowledging that there are some new teachers that have not been posted, said there are rules to be followed in the public sector which include proper security background checks on persons signing up for a teaching position.

“Some of the rules we have relate around security vetting, ensuring that the persons that we have in our schools are indeed people who are fit to be among our students,” Mr. Taylor said.

“As the minister emphasized, safety and security are major concerns of ours.

“And, so, once those processes are completed, then I think the other mechanisms that have to come into effect in public service will then trigger.

“We are not going to engage people who we are not sure about and so that has to happen.”

Mr. Taylor added that once this process takes place, teachers will be engaged.

Just last year August, teachers in the public sector had the same or similar concerns about placement.

Mrs. Wilson at the time was also concerned about the teacher shortage in schools across the country.