Education Minister Fiona Hyslop yesterday made it known that the Scottish Government is moving its commitment to rural schools to a position described as ‘a presumption against closure’ and to be enshrined in forthcoming legislation.

The Minister made the announcement at a 10-pupil primary school at Dalwhinnie in Strathspey. If this fragile school were to be closed, it would mean a thirty mile journey for its pupils in attending an alternative school.

This commitment is of real significance to Argyll and Bute, with its large and far flung territory of deeply serrated mainland peninsulas and islands, home to a small and dispersed population. The importance of its local school to any community is well known and the ongoing vulnerability as the numbers of children fluctuate is a constant worry.

Jim Mather, MSP for Argyll & Bute, has welcomed the announcement from his colleague. He says: ‘I very much welcome this move by the Scottish Government to meet yet another of our manifesto commitments and look forward to broad parliamentary support for this overdue legislation.

‘Similar legislation has been in place for several years in England and in Wales and appears to work well. Certainly it has helped to arrest the momentum of rural school closures there.  I am pleased to see that in this case moves are now being taken to catch up. This does not give an absolute guarantee that schools will be retained when a justifiable social and economic case can be made for closure but the onus will always be on the administrative body to make that case before closure can be affected.

‘Cost alone should not be allowed to be the determining factor in the future of rural schools. The educational needs of a rural area, the availability of transport, the welfare of pupils and the all important role that the school plays in the life of its community are all crucial elements in any decision about the retention of schools.

‘If we want to encourage people to live and work in our fragile rural communities we must provide local schools within these settlements for children to attend.

‘For that reason I look forward to this move which should safeguard the future of these units and I welcome the cross-party approach that has been evident in the early stages of the legislation’.