Save Rural Schools
Rural schools, like rural Post Offices, are social centres for scattered comunities.
They provide a venue for meetings, a place for information and a timetable for activities. They are more important in rural environments than in town centres.And yet, because they cost more to maintain, the Government is forcing them to close them. This is done by legislation, budget changes and ‘guidance’ in the name of cost-efficiency.
But is quality of service as important? Not the service provided by the core business, but the quality of service received by the community - a different measure altogether. How much would it cost to replace these ‘peripheral’ services to the community?
The divide between urban life and rural life seems to widen when abstract edicts cut swathes through country life. And yet most towns-people want to experience the countryside at the weekend. It’s not that they hate it - perhaps more that they don’t understand it, a famous biologist once told me.
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January 31st, 2008 at 3:26 pm
If you agree, use the petition shown in the VentnorBlog article http://ventnorblog.com/petition-to-save-our-schools/
February 8th, 2008 at 8:45 pm
I have read your blog with interest. I agree that rural schools are vital for rural communities, however I also believe that urban schools can be just as important to their communities.
Our local primary school, Greenmount Community Primary School, has been earmarked for closure under all three options of the council’s reorganisation of education despite it being a vibrant and popular school. It was one of few on the island that have been oversubscribed in the past few years.
Greenmount is in the heart of Ryde and 74% of its children walk to school; the highest percentage on the island. This not only keeps many cars off the road but also means that Ryde businesses benefit from parents shopping at local stores. The closure of Greenmount and relocating to schools on the periphery of the town can only increase pressure on local business at a time when there is a plethora of empty shops in town and a new Tesco is being built only a short drive away.
The school is used as a meeting place for the local community, it has hosted events for the local job centre, sure start, Oxfam and offers local parents the opportunity to use its IT facilities.
The cost of the closure of Greenmount will cut deeper into the community than just the pupils and their parents and I believe that it is vital that this school should remain at the heart of the Ryde community.
If you have any ideas about how we can enlighten our friends at county hall I would be most grateful for the advice/help.
Richard Robertson