News / Skerries ready for another school war
A REMOTE island community has vowed to fight tooth and nail to keep the small secondary department of their tiny school open.
On Monday councillors and officials from Shetland Islands Council will travel to Out Skerries to begin the long drawn out consultation process designed to close the smallest secondary school in the country by summer 2011.
Over the last ten years the local authority has already tried and failed three times to close the secondary department of Skerries school.
The department provides education until secondary 4, and presently has a roll of three, rising to four in 2011/12 and 2012/13.
Education officials say pupils would receive a better education in a larger school with more resources. Discontinuing secondary education on the tiny island to the north east of Shetland mainland would also save £62,000 annually, they claim.
Islanders believe the council is determined to destroy their way of life and dispute officials’ claims that pupils would be better off being literally shipped to the Anderson High School, in Lerwick.
The proposal to close the Skerries secondary is part of a wider school closure and restructuring programme, codenamed Blueprint for Education and approved by councillors in June, which earmarks six further schools for closure.
Education officers say closing the secondary departments at Skerries and Scalloway, and primary schools in North Roe, Sandness, Olnafirth, Burravoe and Uyeasound, would slash £6 million from the schools services burgeoning £42 million budget.
The primary schools in Skerries and Scalloway are not affected by the proposal.
Speaking ahead of Monday’s meeting, Skerries school’s parents’ council chairwoman Denise Anderson said things had been looking up for the 70 or so islanders after a few years of economic and social decline.
She said the island’s younger generation had decided they wanted to stay in Skerries and were in the process of setting up homes and starting families.
Skerries is the base for four of Shetland’s 20 plus whitefish vessels with a majority of the male population either working as fishermen or on the local salmon farm.
“The island community is growing, we have more families on the island now and we also have a couple of women expecting babies this year. There are also three new houses going up at the moment,” Mrs Anderson said.
“I believe that our children get a better education here at Skerries due to class sizes and one to one teaching.
“I also think that what they are lacking when they go to Lerwick is learning local skills such as fishing, crofting and engineering. They would never learn that in Lerwick.
“They would not be able to pick up all that just being on the island during the weekend between Friday afternoon and Sunday.”
Community council chairman Douglas Anderson added: “We are very anxious to keep our secondary department. The community will turn out in strength for Monday’s meeting. There is no doubt about that.”
Education officials say pupils from Skerries would have access to specialist teachers and more resources as well as a wider range of subjects should they transfer to Lerwick.
Pupils transferring to the Anderson High School would have access to a wider range of teaching expertise. This would result in greater subject choice and increased access to qualifications at different levels.
A meeting consulting on the proposal to close Scalloway School’s secondary department is scheduled for next Tuesday evening.
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