Interesting proposal, but …

The draft paper from the parent councils is an interesting proposal (Parents offer alternative to school closures, SN 23/1/13).

I am glad that they have taken the trouble to offer a counter proposal rather than just pleepsing about school closures.

The proposals that were originally put forward do not have much effect on my family. However on reading the document I was alarmed to find this glib statement:

“Compare ASN spending with other local authorities. Set reasonable targets compared with these authorities. Consider ASN as part of the restructuring of schools as a whole – it is not a separate issue. Savings of £1.5 million would still leave Shetland as a very high spender in this area.”        

I do not know what experience of ASN education the authors of the report have. One of my daughters has been in ASN education all her life. In the years she has been there I have been delighted with her progress

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ASN has already been asked to find savings of £500,000 and they are worried that the quality of provision will suffer. Any more cuts will just mean ASN education will go back to the bad old days when it was a baby-sitting service with no advancement for the bairns.

The authors have been a bit selective in their selection of costs, citing Orkney as costing £551 per pupil, as against Shetland costing £1,952. However the Western Isles spend £1,331 per ASN pupil.

Some more information on ASN across Scotland can be found in the Scottish Executive report “Mainstreaming Pupils with Special Educational Needs: an evaluation”. Appendix 2 shows that Western Isles like Shetland educate all ASN pupils within the isles, unlike Orkney who send 13 per cent of ASN pupils south for education.

Are we to send our ASN pupils to live away from home so Aith secondary pupils do not have to commute to the AHS?

John N Hunter
Nordia
East Voe
Scalloway