Government high schools will "definitely'' be prepared by September to take students with varying learning needs.

Chief Education Officer Mr. Dean Furbert confirmed this following reports that 75 percent of primary school leavers had applied to Berkeley Institute and Warwick Academy.

Mr. Furbert said Government had made a commitment to ensure that "similar programmes'' were offered in every secondary school.

Several high schools do not offer a foreign language or individual sciences.

But Mr. Furbert said this would change by September.

All public high schools will offer languages and sciences, he said. "And every school will have the facility to provide assistance to children with special needs.'' Primary seven students, who plan to attend public high schools in September, learned of their placements last Friday afternoon.

And while less than half of the 400-plus students who applied to Berkeley and Warwick Academy were accepted, National PTA president Mrs. Marian Askia said she had not received any feedback from parents so far.

But Mrs. Askia, who has children at West Pembroke, said students there did "very well''.

One student at the school achieved a perfect score on the Secondary School Admission Test to Berkeley or Warwick Academy, she added.

Primary school principals contacted by The Royal Gazette this week were reluctant to say how many of their students were accepted at Berkeley or Warwick Academy and other high schools.

They referred such questions to the Education Department.

The Department's Mrs. Maxine Esdaille said "every primary seven student who wished to attend a Government secondary school has been assigned''.

However, she admitted that some had opted to go to private schools.

And while she said she could not recall how many students had applied to public high schools, she said most of the high schools took as many students as they could.

Figures for Whitney were not available. But Northlands will take 60, Sandys Secondary will take just over 70, Warwick Secondary will take 90, and St.

George's Secondary will take 56.

For the first time St. George's first-year classes will be almost filled to capacity, principal Mr. Dale Butler said.

The school can take a maximum of 60 first-year students.

Mr. Butler said of the 56 who applied to St. George's, 21 live in St. George's and 15 in St. David's, with a vast majority coming from Francis Patton, St.

David's Primary and East End.

This, he said, indicated the faith parents had in the neighbourhood school.

"We have sent home a letter to parents telling them of the curriculum which compares very favourably to the subjects offered at Berkeley Institute. And parents' response has been favourable,'' he said.

Mr. Butler noted that the only thing St. George's Secondary -- as with other general secondary schools -- did not offer in the past was a foreign language.

"In September we will offer Spanish,'' he said, in addition to other subjects including science, drama, metal and woodwork.

"In fact we will offer the most comprehensive (high school) programme looking over the five years and if students have ability to do O Levels, they will do them.'' Mr. Butler said students would also for the first time at St. George's have the opportunity to prove whether they could handle general or traditional English and Maths courses, instead of automatically being placed in such groups.

After six weeks of traditional English and Maths, parents and teachers will meet to evaluate students' performances, he said.

Based on the results, teachers will recommend to parents whether it was best for their children to take general courses or continue with traditional.

The school will hold registration on June 15 at 6 p.m. and parents have been invited to drop in at the school anytime, Mr. Butler said.

Mr. Dean Furbert.