Comhairle axes specialist PE lessons for rural pupils 15/9/11
Parents are up in arms after the Comhairle withdrew specialist gym lessons at five primary schools
A PE teacher who was shared across schools in Leverburgh, and Selibost as well as Balallan, Pairc and Lochs who left in the summer is not being replaced.
The move is part of the council’s cost cutting drive which will could affect other primary schools and subjects in due course.
The development, revealed by Hebrides News last year, is being implemented as staff move on. It means that departing specialist itinerant teachers for PE, art and music will not be replaced and the onus falls upon class teachers to fill the gap..
But it creates postcode discrimination as specialist provision continues in some schools and not others.
Harris parents accused the council of unfair discrimination and urged it to provide children with an equal educational experience by spreading the remaining PE resource fairly across all schools in the Western Isles.
Julie Olley of Leverhulme School Parent Council said: ‘In direct contrast to the Curriculum for Excellence and the Equality Act 2010, we are being openly discriminated against by living in South Harris, as against other areas where specialised PE instruction is delivered.”
Shelibost Parent Council secretary Rhoda Campbell said: “Our children deserve an equal opportunity and the chance to benefit from specialist PE in disciplines such as swimming and gymnastics.
“Why should our children miss these opportunities provided to children in other schools?”