A drop in public school enrolment figures is not surprising to the Opposition One Bermuda Alliance. But 2010 student enrolment figures released by the Statistics department in the Census Report appear to be at odds with the Ministry of Education’s own figures.The 201½012 Budget Estimates report a total enrolment in the Primary, Middle and Senior levels of public school at 5,145 students as of September 2010.And the 2010 Census puts the number at 4,383 as of May 2010, a discrepancy of 762 students.“Either the Ministry is overreporting the number of students in the system, or the Census data is way too low,” said Shadow Education Minister Grant Gibbons.Dr Gibbons, who has made a habit of asking for student enrolment figures in Parliament said that the numbers peaked in 2003/04, with some 6,000 students enrolled, but has been on a downward spiral since.The Census Report does warn that about 404 responses to the survey did not state the type of institution students were enrolled in.And the year 2000 was the first year the Census gathered information on whether the school attended was private of public.“There was a five percent decline in the total number of children enrolled in primary, middle and secondary education over the intercensal period, with primary schoolchildren representing the largest decline at 14 percent,” the Report states.“This is a result of decreasing birth rates during this period. There was a sharp decline in public school enrolment of 24 percent since 2000 and an increase of 14 percent in private school enrolment over the same period.”The report goes on to say: “Increase in private school enrolment was significant at the senior school level when in 2010 there were 1,434 persons enrolled at that level compared with 1,060 in 2000, an increase of 35 percent during the intercensal period. This was followed by a 21 percent increase in private school enrolment at the middle school level.”In 2009, the Ministry reported that 5,222 students were enrolled in the public school system.Dr Gibbons said that he is not surprised at the drop in public school enrolment.“I think it’s fair to say that people have been voting with their feet about concerns with public school,” he said.“That’s not to say that some students are not doing well. But parents are putting a premium on education they consider education for their children to be very important.”Education Minister Dame Jennifer Smith could not be reached for comment by press time last night.