Cymdeithas yr Iaith have praised Carmarthenshire Council's commitment to a positive approach towards the rural schools under their care in a proposed policy document, and have encouraged Ceredigion Council to make a similar commitment.
Carmarthenshire Council's ‘Modernising Education Strategy' document was due to be presented to a meeting of Carmarthenshire County Council's Cabinet this week.
Ffred Ffransis, a member of Cymdeithas yr Iaith's Education Group, welcomed the clear statement in the document that ‘Carmarthenshire County Council is committed to doing everything in its power to maintain and strengthen Rural Schools’, which ‘sets the whole discussion in positive context.’
He also praised the commitment that any school would be subject to a detailed series of considerations before drawing up any proposals on its future in order to ‘realise the principle of presumption against closing a rural school’, and comply with the requirement in the Welsh Government's School Organisation Code to consider all other options ‘while proposals are still at a formative stage’
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In the same letter, Ffred Ffransis criticised the manner in which Ceredigion Council have drawn up proposals on the future of four rural Welsh-language schools in the north of the county, Ysgol Llangwyryfon, Ysgol Craig-yr-Wylfa, Ysgol Llanfihangel-y-Creuddyn, and Ysgol Syr John Rhys in Ponterwyd.
Mr Ffransis added that Ceredigion Council ‘started from the point of view of needing to cut the general Budget, and then look for rural schools to close as easy targets’ and that ‘officials decided to close a number of rural schools, and then call in headteachers and governors to tell them that their schools are to close.’
Ceredigion Council is already the subject of a formal complaint from Cymdeithas yr Iaith to the Welsh Government's Education Secretary, Lynne Neagle, that it has not complied with the School Organisation Code when drawing up the proposals for consultation for the above reasons.
Despite a response to correspondence to the Government being normally expected within 17 days, which in this case is November 8, no response has arrived so far. ‘However, Cymdeithas yr Iaith have emphasised that it is better to give detailed consideration to the complaint than to rush a decision, as the credibility of the whole concept of "presumption against closing rural schools’ is at stake.