The Education Ministry cut money for counselling services even as it admits there are an increasing number of students needing the help.

Randy Horton, the Minister of Education, revealed in the House of Assembly yesterday that both prevention, intervention, and service support for students would receive less money.

In the same breath, however, he also explained that more students enrolling in public schools need these programmers with an increase seen even in preschool children.

He said: "There are an increasing number of students acting out behaviourally. From early childhood to senior four there is a need for these services.

"There are six school psychologists. But it comes to each teacher who must help."

To which Chair Dame Jennifer Smith said: "That's excellent Minister because this has decreased."

While behaviour management has received a two percent increase this year, prevention and invention services, which includes paying for the school psychologists have been cut by nine percent.

And for children who may need more support, such as those with hearing difficulties, decreased by three percent from $869,000 to $844,000.

Government spent just over $12 million for Bermuda College salaries during the 2007/2008 fiscal year, Minister of Education Randolph Horton revealed in the House of Assembly last night.

The figure covers 95 full time support staff, 50 full-time faculty members, one part time and 53 adjunct faculty members including trainers through the Centre for Professional Career Education.

The college received a Government grant amounting to more than $18 million last year, Mr. Horton announced.

For the institution's student laptop programme, the college spent $249,000 on 200 laptop computers during the 2007/2008 period.

Responding for the Opposition, UBP MP Grant Gibbons emphasised the importance of a world class public education system in Bermuda, saying education centres around many issues Bermuda faces.

He said: "Education is one of the largest Ministries and one of the largest pieces of expenditure that the Bermuda Government incurs that the taxpayer underwrites.

"I think it's fair to say that those of us on both sides of the House agree that we are all working toward a first-rate, world-class public education system."

"We have often said on this side that education is where empowerment begins... particularly in a place like Bermuda where levels of education and qualification, certainly in the service economy we have, are exceedingly important."

He questioned if Parliament was really delivering the kinds of services and output that parents and taxpayers wished to see in the education system and he told a story of a single parent from St. George's who was concerned with public education.

"This particular lady was a single parent, not uncommon these days, she worked for the Government and she had made the conscious decision not to put her young son into the public education system.

"For her it was an issue of confidence that her son would get what she wanted for him, which was the best in education and development and that sort of thing all parents think about.

"We as members of Parliament need to look at (education) through the eyes of real people who are making real decisions about how their children are going to be educated.

"All of us understand this issue about the social divide in this community right now and the issue of how empowering education really is and needs to be."

Dr. Gibbons said the fact that someone with a college degree earns double that compared to a person who does not, shows how important education can be in terms of income.

He addressed the public school sector's recent alarming graduation rates: "Mr. Chairman, as you may know, the (graduation) results have been relatively abysmal in the last few years.

"In 2004 it was some 38 percent, in 2005 it was 43 percent, in 2006 it was 48 percent, in 2007 I would say it was up for grabs, there was a lot of discussion as to whether the basis of calculation was changing.

"All of should be concerned about this issue of graduation rate... because they're two factors here; why aren't they graduating, why aren't they getting through, and what is happening to those children who do not graduate.

"In some years it was as high as 150, in some years it was as high as 200 of those that actually started S4 and didn't get all the way through S4.

"The worst year was 2003 when I think only about 26 percent actually graduated."

He expressed concern to learn that Government's grant to the Adult Education School, which assists high school pupils that have dropped out to get their GED, dropped from $147,000 in 2006/2007 to $0 in the current Budget.

Dr. Gibbons then added: "There are an awful lot of young Bermudian children, I think a lot of them are males, and a lot of them I think are going to be black males, because of the demographics in the public education system, a lot of them are falling between the cracks."

However, Mr. Horton interrupted him to add that the Ault Education School did get $70,000 in the current Budget, down from $140,000 from the last.