News / Education commission arrives in Shetland
PARENTS, pupils and teachers of threatened small schools will have the chance to lobby members of the Commission on Rural Education when they visit Shetland on a two day fact finding tour.
Four delegates from the commission, headed by chairman sheriff David Sutherland, will arrive in the isles on Tuesday morning.
They first travel to Burravoe, in Yell, to meet with the community along with parents and staff from neighbouring Unst.
Last year Unst’s small primary school in Uyeasound was closed against the will of the community, while Burravoe was spared the axe thanks to Scottish government intervention.
On Tuesday night, the commission will host a public meeting in Lerwick’s Sound primary school starting at 7pm.
The commission has been appointed by education secretary Mike Russell to examine how education in rural areas is working for local people and how this links to rural community life.
On Wednesday, the visiting commission members will travel to Voe to discuss the future of the Olnafirth primary school with parents and teachers.
The school is earmarked for closure but the process has been halted while the commission is in progress.
Finally, delegates will visit the Sandwick junior high school on Wednesday afternoon, before flying back to the Scottish mainland again.
Shetland has two members appointed to the commission who will not take part in the local discussions. They are Aith junior high school parents council chairman Bob Cree-Hay, who is Shetland’s representative on the National Parenst Forum of Scotland, and Shetland Scottish Youth Parliament member Emily Shaw.
The commission is expected to report its findings in August 2012.
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