School closure-
Sirs,
It is indeed ironic that in the very days when we as a nation acknowledge and celebrate the 450th anniversary of the Reformation which for the first time in the history of the world brought education and thereby enlightenment to the masses, we should now be engaged in the wholescale closure of schools.
Scottish education [a school in every parish] was the model for the rest of the entire world and it was no coincidence that we Scots, from one of the smallest countries on earth, were at the forefront of new discoveries in medicine, engineering, and learning in its widest and most encompassing sense.
Did I say ironic? No, not ironic, it is an outrage. There have always been and will continue to be justifiable reasons to close a school but the reasons advanced by Comhairle nan Eilean Siar [CNES] in respect of Carloway Primary School, irrespective of how many consultations they have had, irrespective of how many dubious reasons they put forward are not worthy of a thinking, caring and diligent Council.
Others are dealing with some of the obvious flaws and omissions in the CNES case for closure and will present to you a strong, coherent and relevant rebuttal within the narrow and arbitrary guidelines you chose to select.
However, I wish to draw your attention to this personal experience of matters educational in this Island and in particular in the area of property management, which although outwith the guidelines for representations are nevertheless highly relevant as they were a factor in the Council decision to approve the closure of Carloway Primary.
In Carloway Primary, due to its uniquely compact catchment area the teachers know their pupils as individuals, where they live who the parents are and often where they are. If young Seonaidh is absent they will notice and rapidly find out why. The pupils are not just names or numbers on a class register, they are vulnerable human beings on the first open stage of the rest of their lives. We owe them the care and personal attention that we ourselves got those many years ago and to which they are entitled in a civilised society.
When I went to Carloway Primary in 1944, the buildings were already 64 years old.
Sixty six years later the buildings are still there, wind and weather tight, fully functional with comparatively very little having been spent on them over the past 130 years, and still producing pupils with a first class grounding in education and superb general behavioural skills.
Now consider this:
In 1950 I went to the Nicolson Institute in Stornoway into classrooms on Francis St that still stand today after 110 years although now serving a different function.
In 1953 I went into the brand new state of the art Gibson Boys’ Hostel.
In 1956, having progressed from the Francis St to the Springfield Rd building we were moved into the brand new state of the art Nicolson Institute close by.
Since then, the state of the art Gibson Hostel has had to be demolished after only 50 years because of abysmally inadequate design, inferior construction materials and poor workmanship. The state of the art new Nicolson is about to suffer the same fate for the same reasons after even less than 50 years, while the original Springfield building still stands proud and magnificent after 100 years.
And now we have the new new Nicolson Institute being built – with a projected lifespan of 30 years?
Style over substance reigns supreme in this part of the modern world. Scarce funds have been squandered and are still being squandered or diverted elsewhere in the name of modernisation.
The throw-
Priorities are being set by tunnel vision accountants and time serving glorified
clerks in the Comhairle offices and beyond -
With all due respect I urge you to ensure that the CLOSURE OF CARLOWAY PRIMARY SCHOOL MUST NOT HAPPEN
Norman Macarthur
[Former pupil of Carloway Public School]
7 Braighe Road
Stornoway
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