Rural schools row escalates
Richard Evans – Local democracy reporter
A councillor has been slammed for proposing to shut rural schools with small numbers of pupils.
This week, Cllr Paul Luckock doubled down on his view that rural schools with less than 120 pupils should close, arguing children should attend centralised schools instead.
The Abergele member pointed to the fact that some rural schools were receiving nearly £14,000 per pupil compared to those on the coast receiving less than £4,000 a head.
And Cllr Luckock even named Ysgol Ysbyty Ifan as a school where it was “not rational” to keep it open, due to the fact it only has 14 pupils.
Criticism
But his comments have already prompted criticism from a fellow Conwy councillor who has suggested he lacks understanding for the area he is representing.
Cllr Gwennol Ellis, councillor for Uwchaled and leader of the Plaid Cymru group in Conwy, said: “I condemn and strongly criticise the comments made by Cllr Luckock in the press demanding the closure of rural schools to save money.
“He has not considered the impact his comments have in the community, with parents and teachers.
“Almost all rural schools in the county of Conwy are Welsh-medium and are located in the strongholds of the Welsh language.
“A school provides more than just education – it is the heart of the community, promotes local culture and heritage, and is essential to the prosperity of the language.
“Cllr Luckock clearly does not understand that he is now a councillor in Conwy, which is a rural county and presents unique challenges.
“Providing council services in the rural area is always more costly, but taxpayers still deserve a service.
“Recycling, for example, is still collected in the rural areas despite there being fewer bins to collect. This is the reality of providing services in Conwy.
“Some rural residents may argue that the only services they receive is a local school and bin collections.
“Many local services have long been centralised in the larger coastal towns.”
She added: “I urge Cllr Luckock to debate this matter in the council chamber, and not in the press, to allow for a proper debate with the full range of views and opinions.
“Professional officers with up-to-date evidence should be with us to support our decision-making. This is not how we conduct ourselves in Conwy.”
Facts
Speaking today, Cllr Luckock said it was important the public had the facts.
“I’ve raised these issues in the council chamber and have debated them for three years,” he said.
“It is important that the facts are in the public domain and that they are further discussed and debated in the public domain.”
He added: “The implications for children and parents of the lack of decision is profound.”
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This is a good point. However accessibility to education is also important and so careful reduction in number is required with consideration for location. These massive run through schools remotely sited from some families will reduce the quality of primary education and lead to large class sizes. Parental participation will cease. Primary education will go down the one size fits all chute that has destroyed secondary education in England and Wales and means that our school leavers are now unemployable.
Richard Evans wrote a further article where he disclosed the detailed information about the numbers in small schools, the extensive surplus places and the costs, please share this information, it is in the public interest that the hard facts are debated…..Gwennol makes important arguments but I worry deeply about the teaching and learning provided to children in some of these schools, Radio Cymru sought my views and aired them…..I am fully supportive of self-determination, devolution, Welsh Language, heritage and culture……as I “josh” with Plaid colleagues, you can tell from my name I was of a Norman heritage came over in… Read more »
Is this policy of mass produced education one you think the rest of the UK and indeed the world should follow, or is it just small schools in Welsh speaking areas that you want to abolish for “taxpayer value for money” reasons?
We can continue to manage decline, closing small schools in Conwy and across Wales…..or we can be radical and provide area schools with a minimum of 120 pupils with the best of modern teaching and learning…..such schools will assist in maintaining infrastructure in rural areas…..I remember driving one of my daughters around the north of Wales photographing the remains of lost villages for an A level project she had created……..yes a process of slow decline……but we could have radical change by building a movement for new schools and facilities that enhances Welsh Language, Heritage and Culture and maximises attainments for… Read more »
You are doing a great service raising these issues. Cllr Ellis is choosing to ignore thorny problems such as the fact that all schools’ funding largely depend on the number of pupils in them to sustain a proper curriculum. Excessive surplus places means that money has to be taken from other schools to subsidise small unviable ones.