Rural school closures - FOI request

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Figures obtained by the National Housing Federation under a Freedom of Information request show that 13 village primaries closed in 2006, 14 closed in 2007 and 13 in 2008. Overall, between 2004 and 2008 there were 62 closures. These are the highest number since the 1990s, the campaigners claimed, when 30 a year were being shut, up until 1997.
Local councils are ordering the closures in a bid to save money as pupils numbers in rural areas dwindle, the Federation said. The problem has been caused by below average incomes in rural areas, coupled with above average house prices.
Federation director Ruth Davison said: "The foundations of traditional village life are rapidly disappearing as a lack of affordable housing turns many rural areas into family-free zones. We've already seen village shops and pubs close in record numbers, and if the schools close too - community life in many rural areas will be wiped out. 
"Local authorities need to assess just how many affordable homes are needed in each rural ward, and draw up action plans to get those homes delivered, before more small village schools are closed and traditional village life dies on its feet."



Warning over rural school closures
Tuesday, 1st September 2009 

Rural primary schools are closing at the rate of one a month, fuelled by a lack of affordable housing for families, campaigners have warned.
Parents with young children are being priced out of villages and forced to move to towns where housing is cheaper, they said.

If the situation continues, up to 200 more rural primary schools could close by 2014.

Figures obtained by the National Housing Federation under a Freedom of Information request show that 13 village primaries closed in 2006, 14 closed in 2007 and 13 in 2008. Overall, between 2004 and 2008 there were 62 closures. These are the highest number since the 1990s, the campaigners claimed, when 30 a year were being shut, up until 1997.

Local councils are ordering the closures in a bid to save money as pupils numbers in rural areas dwindle, the Federation said. The problem has been caused by below average incomes in rural areas, coupled with above average house prices.

Federation director Ruth Davison said: "The foundations of traditional village life are rapidly disappearing as a lack of affordable housing turns many rural areas into family-free zones. We've already seen village shops and pubs close in record numbers, and if the schools close too - community life in many rural areas will be wiped out. 

"Local authorities need to assess just how many affordable homes are needed in each rural ward, and draw up action plans to get those homes delivered, before more small village schools are closed and traditional village life dies on its feet."

The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) has previously highlighted the difficulties faced by rural schools. General secretary Dr Mary Bousted said: "Inequality is at the root of most, if not all, our social problems, and the pricing of families and young people out of our countryside is just one example of a rural idyll marred by social disadvantage."

She added: "The Government's education mantra of 'choice and diversity' was supposed to benefit the poor and disadvantaged, but 'diversity' clearly does not seem to include rural schools, locking poor children in rural areas into a cycle of deprivation."

A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: "Rural schools are central to the life of village communities, which is why we have made it a statutory requirement for councils to presume that rural schools should stay open. It is down to locally accountable and elected local authorities to make decisions, in consultation with parents, but we urge them to explore all options to keep rural schools open."

http://www.linlithgowgazette.co.uk/latest-national-news/Warning-over-rural-school-closures.5604381.jp


Enjoyed rewatching this.
In this video of "The Last Train To Trancentral" KLF are Situationists.
They seem somewhat subvesrive.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hnYKTys8rU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LXEOESuiYcA