Proposal to close Welsh rural schools - "unnecessary risk"

Proposal to consult on closing Carmarthenshire’s Welsh-medium rural schools is an "unnecessary risk"

The Carmarthen Region of Cymdeithas yr Iaith has sent a message today to every member of Carmarthenshire County Council's Education Scrutiny Committee (ahead of tomorrow's meeting Tuesday 14/10) urging them NOT to recommend to Cabinet to proceed with Statutory Consultation on proposals to close three Welsh-medium schools and to issue a Closure Notice for another.

Ths schools under threat are Ysgol y Fro Llangyndeyrn, Ysgoil Llansteffan, Ysgol Meidrim and Ysgol Pontiets.

Cymdeithas claim that the proposals are  unnecessary as the Council's own figures show pupil numbers to be rising over the next four years in the three schools in the Carmarthen area. Pupil Numbers are projected to almost double at Ysgol Y Fro, to more than double at Ysgol Llansteffan, while the numbers at Meidrim will rise by 20% bringing the cost per pupil down to the county average. 

This increase in numbers would in turn bring down the much-quoted cost-per-pupil, and certainty over the schools' future would give an additional boost to numbers.

Cymdeithas has also warned that there would be a considerable risk of losing pupils to Welsh-medium education, contradicting the Council's own Welsh-language plans. Even though proposals envisage that the "receiving school" in each case would also be Welsh-medium it is parents, not the Council, who have the choice of an alternative school.

If there local Welsh-medium school is closed, parents working in Carmarthen may well find it convenient to choose a school in the town, or Ysgol Tre-Ioan, as an alternative. As there are only 3 spare pupil places in Carmarthen's Welsh-medium school Ysgol y Dderwen, the likelihood is that many would be registered for convenience at English-medium schools in the town. If officers respond that these other schools will also be on a path towards Welsh-medium education, then closure proposals should be put on hold until that happens.

In a letter emailed to members of the Education Scrutiny Committee, Ffred Ffransis on behalf of Cymdeithas's Carmarthen Region said

"We recognise and thank officers for having followed due process in holding first informal discussions with schools incorporating a range of creative alternative proposals. Unfortunately exactly the same bureaucratic objections have been copied & pasted as reasons for rejecting all alternatives to closures - which raises the question as to w'hat was the point of even discussing the alternatives'?! In addition certain key proposals which could have ansered the cost & building concerns were not explored. There was no consideration in any of these discussions on helping local people to form Community Trusts which could take over responsibility for the buildings, and have then separate funding sources available to them. This would remove all the Local Authority's responsibility for the upkeep of those school buildings, and remove at an instant empty places by renting only that part of the building required to operate a school.

"We emphasise that you have a serious decision to make tomorrow. The Cabinet cannot take a neutral stance and authorise Statutory Consultation merely to gather responses to help it come to a decision. The officers are correct in their direction to Cabinet "Carmarthenshire Council's Cabinet must be satisfied that implementing the favoured option of closing these schools is the most appropriate way of meeting the key challenges noted as reasons for closing the schools. You should only recommend statutory consultation on closure proposals after very careful assessment of the virtues and viability of theis course of action. So if you have any doubt that this might not be the best course of action in any of these cases, then as a Scrutiny Committee, you shouls merely note the proposals and send them to Cabinet with your concerns."