Schools

At the time of posting (November 2010), there is once again a vehement discussion going on about closing rural schools in the Outer Hebrides. Many rural schools were axed in the late 1980s, and another round of closures could see numbers of schools reduced by up to 11. Two schools had no pupils in the previous school year, which highlights the problem of depopulation. Back in 1960, the Secretary of State for Scotland was asked about the number of pupils in five Lewis Schools. It showed the marked decline over the preceding 40 years. I have added the 2010 school roll.

	1920	1930	1939	1950	1959	2010
Tolsta	234	185	185	165	145	49
Bernera	96	92	90	43	45	18
Carloway	173	97	108	63	64	30
Balallan	99	67	36	42	45	27
Shawbost	226	150	124	181	137	95

It should be noted that Carloway and Balallan schools are threatened with closure, as is the junior secondary school at Shawbost.