The Opposition last night said there were a number of myths about public education in Bermuda -- the main one being that Government invested more cash than the United Bermuda Party.

Shadow Education Minister Tim Smith said because the Progressive Labour Party had earmarked $91m for education this year, that did not mean it was being treated as a greater priority than in the past.

He said the UBP gave a greater percentage of its yearly budget to the school system than the PLP had.

But he also said people should look at how the money is allocated to decide for themselves whether they have received value for money.

The Opposition spokesman on education said this year's budget allocation for ministry headquarters had risen by more than the increase for monies going to schools.

"Is this representative of a return to the top heavy micro-management in the industry? The public deserves an explanation,'' he said Mr. Smith said the money going to teacher training was inadequate, as was the cash made available for materials and supplies for schools.

And he said Finance Minister Eugene Cox had not made any attempt to explain how the $12.6 million operating grant given to Bermuda College would be spent.

And Mr. Smith said a large chunk of cash given to the Education Ministry this year was money unspent last year.

He said: "When we talk about the budget we have no idea where the money is going. I don't believe it's going in the right places.

"It costs $7,000 to $8,000 to send your child to private school.

"But it costs $13,846 to educate a child at public schools.

"On a value for money basis, there are some serious trends here. Are we getting the best results we possible can?'' And he said he believed the legislation should be changed to enable more debate within the House over the budget.

Mr. Smith said he believed there were four main myths about education.

The first was the PLP's spending on education.

The second was that the public education system was failing.

"It is not failing,'' he said. It just needs modernising.

He also said it was a myth that Government's various initiatives were already producing results, such as the attendance officers and its policy to deliberately reduce the number of suspensions and expulsions in schools.

He said the improvements in school attendance was marginal since the unit was set up 18 months ago.

And he said preventing teachers from suspending pupils meant there were more discipline problems in schools and low morale in teachers.

Mr. Smith's last myth was that the Education Ministry was establishing and raising standards.

He said nobody seemed to know what the standards were, and so were unable even to begin efforts to meet them.

He urged Government to move quickly on its taskforce to improve morale, and said improving pay, providing serious consequences for poor pupil behaviour, as well as improving teacher training, may help to get teachers back on side.

However, when Minister Without Portfolio Randy Horton replied to Mr. Smith, he said the sky was the limit when it came to expectations in Bermuda's schools.

He said: "Excellence is not an act, it's a habit. I say that because this is what our education system aims to do.

"It aims to make excellence a habit.'' And in response to the four myths, he said the fact that Government was spending $91 million on education showed how important it was in its list of priorities.

He added: "It is a myth that we are spending less than the previous Government. What is important to put in this equation is that our school population is falling. It has fallen by 1.6 percent.'' And he said the pure fact Government had put in place a new evaluation and measuring department showed that it was looking to raise standards and make the public aware.