at St. George's Preparatory School again raises the problem of school choice.

For many years, parents have been forced to apply for admission to Government schools within the eastern, central or western zones, with no guarantees that their children will be able to attend the school of their choice.

This means that children living in St. George's may end up attending a school in Smith's Parish.

The decision taken by then-Education Minister Premier Jennifer Smith to reduce the size of primary school classes to a maximum of 15 students -- which should enable students to get more individual instruction -- seems to have had the unintended consequence of making it difficult for parents to send children to the school of their choice.

If a single entry school had 28 pupils in a year and now may only have 15, the school should be able to make a case for having two classes, assuming it has the space and the facilities.

It is not clear whether St. George's Prep can do this, or if East End Primary is better suited to the purpose.

The problem is exacerbated when one school is perceived as being superior to others. Rightly or wrongly, St. George's Preparatory School is seen as being the best academic school in the East End.

But parents should have some say in where their children go to school and it would seem to be reasonable for good schools which seem to be getting it right to be able to increase enrolments.

Schools are largely judged by their results in terms of academics, discipline and where they are able to draw their students from. A strong principal and good teaching staff make a huge difference, as can supportive parents.

The difficulty for the Education Ministry is that by setting hard and fast rules for class sizes and denying parents a choice, it risks driving students not to other Government schools, but into the private sector.

These parents, who value education so highly that they are prepared to pay the extra price for private school fees, are precisely the kinds of parents who should be supporting public education. Their loss would be grave for the public school system which cannot thrive without community support.

Water woes EDT Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson's warning that oil deposits from the former US Naval Annex pose a threat to the fresh water lens should ring alarm bells throughout Bermuda.

His statement that a declining water table could see the oil and jet fuel contaminate the lens is the strongest possible argument that Government can take to the US Department of Defense to show that a clean-up is needed as quickly as possible.

But the public also needs to know how imminent the danger is and whether conservation measures in the West End, such as a moratorium on new wells, are needed.