News / Parents fighting for their schools
A LARGE delegation from the Skerries are set to travel to Lerwick on Thursday to fight council plans to close the island’s tiny three-pupil secondary school.
They will be joined by parents from the village of Voe, whose eight-pupil-strong Olnafirth Primary School is also earmarked for closure.
Shetland Islands Council says closing both schools would bring educational benefits.
The move would also save the local authority an estimated £170,000 per annum, about five per cent of its saving targets of almost £3.3 million over the next three years.
Should the proposals go ahead, the three Skerries pupils would attend Lerwick’s Anderson High School as of August 2014, while the Olnafirth primary pupils would transfer to neighbouring Brae.
Skerries, the smallest secondary school in Scotland, has been under almost constant threat of closure since the mid 90s.
The last time the community fought back successfully was in December 2010 when a slim majority of councillors decided not to follow their official’s recommendations.
Skerries resident Ryan Arthur said closing the department, which is effectively just one classroom within the school, would have much wider repercussions.
He said: “Closing the school, as stated in the social-economic survey, will quite simply draw a line under the future viability of the community here.
“It will definitely wipe out the chance of anybody else moving here with families because, like us, no one wants to be separated from their kids.
“After that you would be left with a dwindling workforce and an elderly population.”
He added that with a vibrant fishing fleet and a busy salmon farm, Skerries was a net-contributor to Shetland’s economy.
“I had to laugh when the council stated that we would be supported economically should the school close.
“The biggest economic threat to Skerries is actually the council itself. If we were left alone we wouldn’t need any economic support. It is a very productive island,” he said.
He added that should councillors decide to close the school this time, they would immediately appeal to Scottish education minister Mike Russell to call in the decision.
“Most of what the council report is based on is out of date. Thanks to the new head teacher Patricia Babin the education argument as far as subject provision and learning environment is concerned is just falling flat.”
A report to be discussed by councillors said: “There remains huge resistance within the community of Skerries to closing their secondary department.
“Children’s Services accepts this, but considers the imperative to deliver a better education to the children of Skerries to be an outcome it must continue to pursue.
“For critical educational reasons (…) the secondary aged children from Skerries School should be educated in the Anderson High School.
“They will receive a very high quality education there, will have access to a range of specialist teachers, and be able to socialise and learn with groups of children their own age.”
Meanwhile, Olnafirth parents council chairman David McDowall said the council’s final consultation report failed to prove that closing the school would ring educational benefits to pupils.
“The council may well want to close the school, and they may well want to save the money but there are legal responsibilities they have to fulfill.
“The Education Scotland Act is very, very clear in what they can and cannot do.
“If they vote to close our school, and there is the chance that they will do so, the first thing we will do is try to get the decision called in by Scottish ministers,” he said.
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