A former Principal of St. George's Preparatory School has backed parents in their fight to reverse the "arrogant injustice'' of a Government decision to axe one of its classes.

Parents fear for the future of the school after Government decided to half the number of entry classes by one because it wants to keep class sizes down.

Now parents who can't get their children into the highly-rated school are faced with the prospect of having to send their children to East End Primary.

On Friday, parents branded Premier Jennifer Smith a liar after she claimed she did not know about the situation in her own constituency because she had been off the Island.

The Premier, who speaks on education in the House of Assembly, said she would look into the matter after 40 parents presented an 800 signature petition against the class closure.

But former St. George's Prep. School Principal Mervyn Moorehead yesterday attacked the Ministry of Education decision as "nonsense,'' and said class sizes had nothing to do with academic achievement.

He said the school, which was founded in 1875 and refects the racial mix on the Island, was successful because it had enthusiastic teachers, students and parents.

Mr. Moorehead, who taught at the school for a total of 38 years, said in a letter to The Royal Gazette : "I must protest against the Ministry of Education's latest nonsense.'' "This school has a fine record of academic achievement, constant over the years, and in spite of many nonsensical, imposed plans from various ministries during the years.

"It remained, through all the experiments, idiocy and time-wasting practices, a school that had a splendid, caring group of teachers, wonderfully interested and active group of parents, and a fine group of young students, whom we all cared for and did our best for.

"From the inception of integration in 1968, this school, unlike others in the system, went along with this totally necessary social step in education, without a word of dissent.

"From that moment to the present, its school population has mirrored the island's population mix, and as such, has been a shining example of what was sought in 1968.'' Mr. Moorehead said the decision by the Education Ministry to create two P1 classes last year was "bumbling''.

"Academic performance has nothing to do with class size, fancy buildings, or imported learning materials from the USA, who rank close to the bottom of world education standards.

"It has to do with good, dedicated teachers; good basic teaching of basic subjects; good parental support; and good students who want to learn.

"All of the above we had, and parents had the right to choose St. George's Prep. if they believed in our strategy.

"Now we have X number of parents being forced to have no choice in school.

Are we now a true dictatorship rather than a democracy? Or maybe its a maths game? "Five years of classes at 15 per class equals a school of 75 students - oh dear, much too small to keep open.

"I truly hope that St. George's Prep. parents will battle this arrogant injustice to the end, as the school has been a servant to the country since 1875.''