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Duties and responsibilities

Your duties as an education officer

The Education Regulations do not describe education officers’ duties. The guide uses a Senior Education Officer job posting from the Ministry of the Public Service to describe them.

This page is only in the practice guide for education officers. It is not part of your guide.

Main duties

  1. Supervise, advise on and promote good practice in planning, managing and running the national curriculum and the education sector.
  2. Help make good, data-driven decisions that build the leadership capacity of schools.
  3. Enforce laws, regulations and government policy on education.
  4. Coordinate the review, design and development of national curricula.
  5. Coach education officers, principals and teachers, including on curriculum and assessment.
  6. Develop work plans and budgets that support the Ministry’s goals, especially for the curriculum.
  7. Make sure Ministry programmes, policies and initiatives are carried out in sections and schools.
  8. Supervise and advise principals on major issues of management, curriculum, examinations and pastoral care.
  9. Prepare annual reports on curriculum and assessment delivery, and on how well initiatives worked.
  10. Advise the Chief Education Officer and deputies. This covers school management, instructional leadership, student support, curriculum, assessment, examinations, and policy and planning.
  11. Keep up your own professional development in curriculum and teaching.

If you are a school leader

This page is from the education officers' guide. It is not in the practice guide for school leaders.

If you are an education officer

The guide sums up your work as six roles. They are supervision, planning, enforcement, coordination, management, and monitoring, evaluation and reporting. All centre on leading quality education.

More detail

How you support good governance

  • Help develop education laws, policies and programmes that fit together and support schools.
  • Work with school leaders, teachers, parents, boards of management and other bodies.
  • Provide sound financial oversight, and model accountability and transparency in using public funds.
  • Develop, resource and monitor quality curriculum and professional development.
  • Set and enforce school calendars that maximise teaching time.
  • Visit schools and classrooms regularly to observe and support leadership and teaching.
  • Work with other government departments and agencies on student and staff safety and well-being.
  • Support recruitment, hiring, supervision and succession planning.
  • Lead continuous system improvement, and keep school and system plans aligned.

What the job description says you should know

  • The Public Service Act, Cap. 29
  • The Education Act, Cap. 41 and the Education Regulations, 1982
  • The Education (Teachers Evaluation) Regulations 2007
  • The Financial Management and Audit (Financial) Rules, 2011 and the Public Finance and Audit Act, 2019
  • The General Orders of the Public Service, 1970 (revised May 1997)

Competencies the job description asks for

Thinking strategically; managing and team working; managing change; choosing and deciding; knowledge management; and technology knowledge.

Still not sure?

Find the right person in the Ministry staff directory. Have the details of your situation to hand.

Open the staff directory

The law and policy behind this

Practice Guide for Education OfficersEducation officers' guide, section 2 and section 3 · draft of 27 May 2026
Public Service competency frameworkOpens on mps.gov.bb Education Regulations, 1982 (Cap. 41)Opens on barbadoslawcourts.gov.bb Public Service Act, 2007Opens on butbdos.com

Not yet checked by a Ministry editor