Plans to close Scottish primary schools have been fiercely opposed The Scottish government is calling on councils to introduce a moratorium on plans to close rural schools.
Education Secretary Mike Russell has written to council leaders asking them to halt plans to shut rural schools until next June.
He is also to set up a commission on how rural education should be delivered.
The Scottish government said it could force councils to comply with a moratorium if necessary.
But council umbrella group Cosla suggested Mr Russell’s move “did not add up”.
Councils are responsible for delivering education in their area but the Scottish government has the power to call in plans for school closures if it does not believe the correct processes have been followed by the authority. Mike Russell is
A Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education will be established to consider the provision of education in rural communities and to take a comprehensive look at the Schools (Consultation) (Scotland) Act 2010.
The Scottish government says this will include a clear legislative presumption against the closure of rural schools and the need for educational benefits to be the driving force in any proposed closure.
Mr Russell said: “The delivery of education in rural communities is about much more than a school building, it is fundamental to the social and economic make-up of a community.
Mike Russell is setting up a commission looking at rural education “That is why it is the right of individual communities to have genuine consultation based on accurate information and why there is, and will remain, a clear legislative presumption against closure.
“However, since the Schools Consultation Act came into force there have been differences in the interpretation of the act.
“I believe that these differences have resulted in the original intentions of the act – that the educational, not financial, benefits should be the main consideration – not always being followed.
“To allow for a comprehensive and fair assessment of the closures process, I have asked for a one-year moratorium during which local authorities will not propose rural schools for closure.”
“Does anybody honestly think that any council leader or education convener takes a decision to close a single school, rural or otherwise, without a tremendous amount of thought?”
Pat Watters Cosla
Mr Russell added: “During this period a new Commission on the Delivery of Rural Education will be tasked with, amongst other things, reviewing the legislation and its application and making recommendations on best practice on the delivery of education in rural areas.
“It will also look at innovation and the link between rural education and rural regeneration.
“I will announce more details on its remit and membership shortly, but it will have licence to think radically and will return at the start of the next year with fresh proposals.”
One of the biggest rows over proposed rural school closures is in Argyll and Bute where Mr Russell was elected as the MSP last month.
Argyll and Bute Council is proposing to shut 11 primary schools. As things stand, any schools which close at the end of the consultation process are scheduled to shut at Christmas.
Many of the proposed closures have been met by fierce local opposition.
No-one from Argyll and Bute Council was immediately available for comment.
But Cosla appeared to be unhappy that it had not been consulted before Mr Russell wrote to councils individually.
Its president Councillor Pat Watters said: “There is a difference between being consulted and being told. This is a subject that has never been raised at any of our political meetings – the way it has been done does not add up.
“The Scottish government would be able to impose a mandatory moratorium, created through legislation, if necessary”
Scottish government spokesman
“Does anybody honestly think that any council leader or education convener takes a decision to close a single school, rural or otherwise, without a tremendous amount of thought?
“Yes, we are driven by factors like finance and balancing budgets, but our main motivation is councils need to support educational attainment for all our young people across their area.
“Councils have always had to make this difficult call and we fully understand that it can cause tensions.”
He added: “If there is a way in which we can marry the financial issues facing us, the need to balance all the educational issues across a council area and a satisfactory outcome for pupils, parents, central and local government then that should be embraced and it would certainly be something that I would be willing to put to my colleagues in local government.
“The subject of school closures is a serious problem that can only be solved in partnership.”
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Councils have already expressed some concerns, via Cosla and Ades (Association of Directors of Education in Scotland), about how the process for closures has been working to date.
“We would therefore expect councils to welcome a period during which the process and associated legislation will be reviewed, adhering to the moratorium.
“The Scottish government would be able to impose a mandatory moratorium, created through legislation, if necessary.
“However, this would be time consuming and time which could be better spent looking at the substantive issue and seeking a way forward in the delivery of rural education.”
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