Mr. Edward Taylorasked the Secretary of State for Scotland whether he has yet reached a decision on the future of the Glasgow city-wide selective schools; and whether he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Gordon CampbellIt is the declared policy of this Government to allow education authorities as much freedom as possible to decide for themselves the form of secondary organisation best for their areas and not to seek to impose any particular form of secondary organisation on them. As Secretary of State, my main responsibility is to ensure that, whatever arrangements are made, the education authority continues to provide adequate and efficient school education.
When Glasgow Education Authority made proposals to me last year in respect of its city-wide selective schools I received a large number of representations from parents and others protesting against them and I asked the authority to carry out further consultations with parents and staff. It has since reported to me the outcome of these consultations.
I have considered the authority's proposals most carefully and am prepared to approve them with effect from session 1973–74 subject to modifications designed to ensure that pupils at present attending these schools will be allowed to continue until they have completed their school education or, in the case of those in the primary schools or department, their primary education. These modifications are of course designed to minimise the disturbance to pupils currently attending the schools, some of whom would have been transferred to other schools under the authority's original proposals.
These modifications will apply to the High School of Glasgow as to the other schools except that, as and when the stage is reached when I can be satisfied that the number of pupils remaining in the secondary department of the school no longer constitutes a viable school unit, I shall be prepared to give sanction for the discontinuance of the school. All pupils now attending the primary department of the High School will, however, be allowed to complete their primary education there and only then, at the end of the 1973–74 session, will the primary department be discontinued.
229WMany people, both in Glasgow and elsewhere, will regret the disappearance of a school of such long standing as the High School. The closure forms an integral part of the authority's reorganisation proposals.
My Department has written to Glasgow Education Authority today to inform it of my intentions in relation to its proposals. I have told the authority that I will expect it, before introducing the new arrangements, to consult fully with the parents and staff concerned about the methods of implementing them.