Proposed Closures of Borders Schools

On Thursday, 25th March, Christine Grahame, an MSP for the South of Scotland will introduce a parliamentary debate on the "Crisis for Borders Schools".

You can watch this debate live and in full on the internet from 17.05. View it at anytime thereafter via our archive and you can also read a full transcript of the debate in the Parliament's Official Report which is online within a day of the debate.

But more than this, you can have you say on the issue by contributing to this online forum, established in conjunction with the parliamentary debate.

Christine Grahame and other MSPs will be reading you posts, before and after Thursday's debate, and may well use the information supplied and the opinions expressed on the forum, within their own speeches on the chamber floor.

So get posting now on this important issue.

You can also assist the Scottish Parliament by letting others with an interest know about this participative initiative plus the ability to watch the debate live on this site.

Christine Grahame’s Motion 

Crisis for Borders Schools — Parliament notes with concern the proposed closure of the following Borders schools: Cranshaws, Teviothead, Eccles/Leitholm, Hutton, Roberton, Ednam, Channelkirk, Newlands, Oxnam, Glen Douglas, Heriot and Fountainhall; further notes that Scottish Borders Council in its consultation document Management Review of the School Estate in the Scottish Borders, in particular the chart describing the factors that may be considered when making decisions on the schools’ long-term viability, did not include the "importance of

Christine Grahame MSP

the local school to the community" which had been included in the first stage evaluation; reminds the Scottish Executive of its commitment in A Partnership for a Better Scotland to "continued reform so that our public services are designed and delivered around the needs of individuals and the community within which they live" and also its commitment in Building our Future Scotland’s School Estate to place "the child at the centre, meeting the needs of the individual" and "the school at the heart of the community, meeting the needs of the communities"; believes that the proposed closures, against the expressed wishes of many communities, are driven by the requirements of proposed PPP/PFI school building programmes, and therefore believes that the Executive should adhere to its aforesaid commitments and reject rural school closure proposals which, if they proceed, will permanently damage fragile communities

Motion Supported by: Carolyn Leckie, Frances Curran, Michael Matheson, Mr Bruce McFee, Mr Adam Ingram, Rob Gibson, Fiona Hyslop, Mrs Margaret Ewing, Bruce Crawford, Ms Sandra White, Brian Adam, Stewart Stevenson, Mr Stewart Maxwell, Campbell Martin, Alasdair Morgan, Jim Mather, Richard Lochhead, Alex Neil, Fergus Ewing (list correct as of Monday 22 march)


Useful Links

Borders Council

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