Cymdeithas yr Iaith have called on the leaders of Gwynedd County Council to listen to and respect the wishes of the people following the release today of a strategy which could threaten the future of many Welsh-medium Village Schools in the County.

The Society accept that Gwynedd are not trying to push through a fait accompli as is happening in Carmarthenshire, as the Education Scrutiny Committee next Thursday afternoon (Oct 25th)and the full Council (meeting on December 13th) will have to discuss and approve the strategy before it is implemented in any way.But Cymdeithas Education spokesperson, Ffred Ffransis, said:"We take the leaders of Gwynedd County Council at their word that they will listen to the voice of the people and be willing to change substantially this strategy which has been drawn up by the officers. We call on parents, governors and all concerned with the future of our communities to make their voices heard and to come en-masse to Caernarfon for the meetings of the Education Scrutiny Committee next Thursday and then the full Council meeting on the 13th December which will discuss the strategy. Cymdeithas will be pressing for the strategy to be changed in 3 ways -• firstly, we recognise that creating federations or multi-site schools can be a positive way of safeguarding the educational presence in each community, but this model should not be forced dogmatically on areas where it is not suitable.• secondly, we reject the Council's notions that federations can only succeed if they are of a certain size and have a detached Head Teacher. The federation model is flexible enough to be suitable for many of the smaller schools now threatened by closure.• thirdly we are not happy that a detailed examination has been made in every area to see what additional services can be provided from village schools which would result in funds from additional sources to maintain their viability. This should include the location of Council community posts within the schools where appropriate.Cymdeithas will be pressing the Council to change its strategy as a result of listening to the reasoned arguments of ourselves and others. We shall also be stepping up our demand that the Rural Affairs Dept of the Welsh Assembly Government should take over the buildings of village schools to develop them as community resources, renting back to Local Education Authorities that part of the capacity which they need to run community schools and co-operating with other public agencies to use the rest of the capacity. In this way, the pressure would immediately be lifted from LEA's and the sustainability of our Welsh-speaking village communities given a great boost."The following recently published document may be of interest to you: Village Schools - The case for Positive Rationalisation, October 2007, (pdf)Cau 29 ysgol: Rhieni 'i frwydro', BBC Cymru'r Byd, 20/10/07Ysgolion: 'Ewch yn ôl at y bobl', BBC Cymru'r Byd, 21/10/07Keep 29 rural schools, council is urged, Western mail, 20/10/07Twenty nine Gwynedd schools face closure, Daily Post, 20/10/07Parents to fight school closures, BBC Wales, 20/10/07