Parents demand Russell calls in closures
THE PARENTS of pupils in Uyeasound and Burravoe have called on Scottish education secretary Mike Russell to call in plans to close their primary schools.
The two schools narrowly missed the moratorium on shutting rural school announced by Mr Russell last week, though local MSP Tavish Scott has insisted this should be reviewed.
Now the islanders on Unst and Yell must wait until 27 June to find out if the government will take up their plea to have their case reconsidered.
The parents are all claiming the council failed to carry out a proper consultation and that their original proposals were peppered with inaccuracies.
In Burravoe their major concern is some children having to travel more than 10 miles along a single track road to Mid Yell, where they believe the standard of education will be poorer. They also worry about the impact on a fragile community which is working hard to revive its fortunes.
In Uyeasound the parents are highlighting the quality of education at their primary school, which outperformed every other primary in Scotland according to HM inspectors, despite this being the fourth attempt in the past decade to close the school.
The council is hoping to save £110,000 from the Burravoe closure, and £97,000 from Uyeasound, to help its efforts to slash its overstretched £42 million education budget.
Both parent groups say the council has failed to examine alternatives to saving money.
On Thursday Mr Russell defended his decision to impose a moratorium on school closures in the Scottish Parliament, after coming under attack from local authorities who demand to know where they will find the cash to keep schools open.
This week Mr Russell said closing schools should not be about money, but about educational benefit and giving rural communities the chance to thrive.
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He is currently setting up a commission to look into the issue, which is affecting communities throughout Scotland, including his own constituency in Argyll & Bute.
This week he said: “The delivery of education in rural communities is about much more than just a school building. A school can be as fundamental to the social and economic make-up of a community. That is why it is the right of individual communities to have a genuine consultation based on accurate information and why there is, and will remain, a clear legislative presumption against closure.”
Plans to consult on closing Olnafirth primary school in Voe are likely to be put on hold next week as a result of the moratorium.
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