You might wonder what the status is regarding the possible closure of Keills primary school and many other schools in the Argyll and Bute council. Due to drastic budget cuts by the government the A&B council is doing everything they can to make ends meet and this includes impopular and sometimes not carefully enough considered proposals such as the school closures.

Fortunately the communities and local media go hand in hand to protest against these drastic measures. In this respect I must compliment the people at ForArgyll who have done literally everything they can to report the latest news and to get the voices of the local communities heard. They have done one heck of a job and are still doing it! One look at the link provided explains that the threat of the school closures continues and new stories are added on a daily basis. Continue reading....

Also the Ileach, recently shortlisted for the ‘Community Newspaper of the Year Award’, are reporting about and protesting against these closures. A couple of weeks ago Keills primary were backed in their protest by the RNLI as you can read in an article written by Hugh Smith of the Ileach newspaper: "Adding to the protesting voices raised against the proposed closure of Keills primary school are those of the management committee and volunteer crew of the Islay lifeboat. They have written to Argyll and Bute Council pointing out that the closure proposal is not in the best interests of the pupils involved and would have a telling effect on the community. Since the station was established at Port Askaig in 1934, the large majority of the volunteers who have manned the station come from the Kilmeny district. While local residency is not mandatory, the local RNLI branch points out that it is much more desirable that the volunteers live in close proximity to the station.

"Distress calls require an immediate response, launching must be expedited as speedily as possible as the primary aim of the RNLI is to save lives at sea. The closure of the area’s only primary school would have a knockon effect on local recruitment as, without a school, the area would have less appeal or attraction to people in the parent age group who are, largely, representative of those who voluntarily man the island lifeboat. The objectors go on to express further concerns as they consider that the school closure would have a far reaching effect on the educational, economic and cultural life of the current school’s catchment."

Tag: community school keills council rnli