A bid to stall a planned primary school move failed last night as the Government rejected calls for the scheme to be scrapped.

Shadow Education Minister Ms Jennifer Smith tabled a motion in the House of Assembly calling on the Government to reject plans to move Dellwood Primary School to Berkeley Road, Pembroke, the site of Northlands School.

But the bid was defeated 19 votes to 17, sparking a fierce debate as the PLP accused the Government of being insensitive and not prepared to listen to the people.

Northlands is to be upgraded into a primary school, at a cost of $1 milion, and Dellwood converted into a middle school with the plans coming into effect in 1997.

However, parents of Dellwood pupils are outraged by the plans to move their school and have vowed to dig their heels in to stop the scheme going ahead.

And last night Ms Smith took their side as she called on the Government to scrap the scheme.

"We are making a decision that will change our children's lives forever but we have not involved the opinions of the students,'' said Ms Smith.

"The students of all ages have expressed a desire to be heard in the debate on the Bermuda educational system, they want to feel included.'' She said in arguing that Dellwood stayed, she was not saying that Northlands students had to stay put.

"Parents of students at Northlands have been complaining about the facilities for some time, but the Dellwood site is not the place for Northlands.'' Former Education Minister Dr. Clarence Terceira answered Ms Smith, as the current Minister Jerome Dill entered the debate after the Government had won the vote.

He said a number of options had been explored and talks had taken place with Dellwood PTA - which he blamed for ending discussions.

"We went through a long list of all the advantages and disadvantages of all the alternatives and the conclusion was the obvious one, that we must proceed with the plan.''