Oct 22 2008
Schools
I don’t have children going to school, but am only too aware of the ‘problems’ surrounding the provision of education to the island’s youngsters. As I indicated in a previous post, I am totally lost as for the rationale behind the decisions being taken, only to be reversed within hours, by Western Isles Council. I had to bite back a sardonic cackle this evening when reading that ‘hard decisions’ would have to be taken. For goodness sakes, hard decisions were called for this summer, and were very effectively avoided.
Now I read that the provision of primary education is to be reviewed. All 38 primaries in the Western Isles catchment area (Barra to Butt) will come under close scrutiny. However, should the secondary segments (S1/S2) in outlying schools come to be closed (can’t, for the muddle, tell whether or not that’s the case), classrooms will start to lie empty, which could be used for primary education.
Confused? How DO you mean, confused?!
Back in the late 1980s, someone was employed by the Council to go round and axe schools, left, right and centre. He was the scapegoat and could safely leave the island, with all the impopularity on his unfortunate shoulders. Being electorally aware has, by the sound of things, made our councillors scared of making impopular decisions, only batting for their own wards. Fair enough, up to a point, but it’s already led to insults from a parliamentary representative - something I don’t agree with in itself - but it IS time Sandwick Road got its act together, made a firm decision and stuck to it. We’ve got a Butt of Lewis in our island, we don’t need to be the Butt of Jokes.
