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Pupils, parents, governors and supporters of four more village schools under threat of closure in Carmarthenshire will be gathering from 08.30 on Monday (2 November) outside County Hall, Carmarthen, ahead of proposals before the Council’s Cabinet to authorise consultation on the closure of Ysgol Bancffosfelen, Ysgol Pontiets, Ysgol Carwe and Ysgol Blaenau.
The demonstration is being organised by governors and supported by Cymdeithas yr Iaith, who have today asked Education Minister Anna Brychan to take three practical steps to help village schools.
On behalf of Cymdeithas members in Carmarthenshire, Ffred Ffransis explained that they have written to Anna Brychan asking her to take these three steps:
Step 1: Restore the grant given to Local Authorities to support small and rural schools.
Mr Ffransis explained:
“This was a very modest grant of £2.5million per annum, distributed to local authorities to help with the extra costs of maintaining village schools, which are one of the few investments made in these communities. The grant continued for several years but was stopped in July 2024 by then First Minister Vaughan Gething, as the previous Labour Government ran out of steam and vision. Now local authorities have to find the money from their own stretched budgets, and Welsh-speaking village communities are paying the price.”
Step 2: Remind Local Authorities that the Sustainable Learning Communities Grant (for capital investment) is available to upgrade buildings of village schools as well as for new builds for centralised schools.
Mr Ffransis commented:
“All recent Education Ministers – Kirsty Williams, Jeremy Miles & Lynn Neagle – have assured Cymdeithas of this, and yet the historic underfunding of village schools remains. Upgrading Ysgol Bancffosfelen would be, based on the Council’s own figures, a far more cost-effective proposal in this case, and using the grant to honour the undertaking to upgrade Ysgol Carwe would have been a better solution than cramming pupils into the buildings of other schools.”
Step 3: Promote the use of surplus capacity in certain village schools to set up Welsh-learner clubs and activities for those moving into the village communities.
Mr Ffransis said:
“These village schools are the Welsh-language powerhouses of the communities, and we support the calls of Governors to extend their influence from the schools into the communities as part of the Government’s response to proposals from the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities.”
