Mr. Watkinsasked the Minister of Education whether she is aware that the Radnorshire Education Committee received a deputation on 23rd May protesting against the closure of three primary schools; whether she will explain her action in not acceding to the request of the Committee to eliminate from this year's programme the proposal to build a new school to serve the three village schools; and what were the terms of her reply to this request.
§ Miss HorsbrughYes. I encouraged the authority to proceed with their proposal to build a new school at Rhosgoch because I considered this would be the best way of meeting the educational needs of the area. I am sending the hon. Member a copy of the letter.
Mr. Watkinsasked the Minister of Education whether she will name the primary schools in Radnorshire which she has approved for closure in accordance with the Education Committees development plan; if she will state the number of children at each of the schools at the time the development plan was submitted and the number at the present time; to what extent the parents of the children or the managers of the schools were consulted in each case; and what protests were made against the closures.
§ Miss HorsbrughOut of all the schools proposed for closure in the authority's development plan I have approved the closure of the following three schools to take effect when a new school is built at Rhosgoch:
Name of School Number of Pupils as shown in the Authority's Development Plan Number of Pupils on 1st January, 1952, the latest date for which information is available Llandilo Graban Primary 16 20 Newchurch County Primary 12 20 Painscastle Primary 33 39 Notices of the proposed closure of these schools were published by the Local 120W Education Authority as required by Section 13 of the Education Act, 1944.
In the case of Llandilo Graban, objections were made to me by ratepayers and local government electors; and by ratepayers and the school managers against the closure of the two other schools.