Communities prepare to fight for schools
THE LATEST battle over school closures in Shetland is set to commence on Monday when the local authority starts a 35 day consultation over the future of four rural primaries.
Last June councillors voted to carry out a review of the schools in Uyeasound, Burravoe, North Roe and Sandness.
The move is part of the Blueprint for Education review, which is seeking to reduce the council’s huge £42 million schools budget by around £6 million.
Last month councillors voted to go ahead with plans to close Scalloway junior high school in the face of enormous community opposition. Local MSP Tavish Scott has joined the Scalloway parents council in asking for the Scottish government to re-examine the decision.
At the same meeting councillors voted to retain the smallest secondary school in Scotland on Out Skerries where just three pupils attend, after hearing that its closure would have devastating effects on the island’s economy.
Now parents of children at the four primaries are gearing up for their own battle to save their schools from the axe.
Derek Jamieson, of Uyeasound, on the isle of Unst, said that this was the fourth time the council had attempted to close their 11 pupil primary school in the past 10 years, despite a glowing report from the school inspectors.
The Uyeasound community is starting to thrive again with young families moving in, partly due to the local authority building a £3.3 million pier in 2009 to support the local salmon industry.
“There’s a lot of young families moving back and building houses. If you lost those young folk we would become an ageing community, not a thriving one,” Mr Jamieson said.
He added that the battle over the local school has actually drawn the community together, but it was frustrating that the council kept returning with a new attempt at closure.
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This time however parents can look to the Scottish government for help through the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010, which demands good educational reasons for closing schools rather than the financial motives which are driving the council’s review.
The latest consultation begins on Monday and ends on Sunday 13 March, with public meetings in all four communities being held in late January and early February.
A consultation on losing the Olnafirth primary school in Voe will commence in August.
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