Schools Scotland: Closing rural schools risks exacerbating depopulation crisis

Decision-makers must tread carefully with cuts to rural education

After a sobering round of local authority budget-setting meetings, nobody in Scotland can still be operating under the illusion that councils have money to spare.

Almost every area of spending that can be cut, has been cut, impacting schools and the jobs of teachers. Some councils are not quite at that point yet, but they will be soon.

In authorities with a large number of small, rural schools, the focus naturally falls on their future. In some cases, there can be sound educational arguments, as well as financial, for closing schools with tiny, dwindling rolls.

Depopulation is the most pressing issue for Scottish islanders. Picture: Getty Images

It is also not a new trend. Schools with unsustainable rolls have been targeted for years.

But it must be remembered that, in some cases, pupil numbers are falling because of the failure of those in power to tackle the causes of depopulation.

This includes a lack of well paid jobs, insufficient investment in infrastructure and housing over a long period, and little meaningful action to prevent properties from being turned into holiday homes, which so often prices local families out of the market, and leaves communities resembling ghost towns for most of the year.

It is hard enough to attract and retain young families in some of these areas without punishing them further by removing their school, which also offers employment opportunities to teachers and support staff.

Decision-makers have difficult choices to make, but they must tread very carefully when it comes to education cuts in rural areas.

Because closing a local school might also close that community’s hopes for a future.