Dave Thompson MSP

Highlands and Islands SNP MSP, Dave Thompson attended a packed meeting at Gairloch High School last night. The meeting had been called by the Parent Council to discuss the cuts in teaching staff at the school, imposed by Highland Council.

The cuts have hit the school hard and have led to the loss of subjects from the curriculum including Home Economics and Business Studies. The level of concern at the impact on children’s education in Gairloch is such that extra seats had to be brought in to accommodate the large number of parents attending.

Mr Thompson has already given his support to the campaign being led by the Parent Council to reverse the cuts. Last night he also supported calls for Highland Council to adopt a special formula when considering teacher numbers at smaller rural schools like Gairloch. The Parent Council believes that the current formula is flawed and needs to give more recognition to the impact of cuts to teaching staff in a remote rural location. Schools like Gairloch cannot share subjects with other schools, the closest to Gairloch being 50 miles away.

The Parent Council called for a baseline to be drawn up that would ensure a balanced curriculum is maintained at the school. This would make sure that pupils had access to an appropriate range of subjects. They argued that such a move is vital to ensure families stay in the area.

Commenting Dave said: "I fully support the Parent Council’s campaign to reverse these cuts. I also agree with their argument that Highland Council should adopt a special formula when considering teacher numbers at smaller, rural schools. The maintenance of a balanced curriculum with a full range of subjects is vital to rural communities like Gairloch. How can we maintain our communities if the local schools don’t offer a proper education?

"I will raise this with the Chief Executive of Highland Council and with my colleagues in the SNP opposition, in the hope that we can persuade the current administration to think again before sacrificing the education of children in Gairloch and other rural areas."