County Council refuses to give the full story (Press Release)

Carmarthenshire County Council is today once again launching it’s unpopular strategy for “modernising” education a full month before the full Council discusses the matter for the first time, thus showing total contempt for democracy.

In a cynical attempt to disguise the fact that this “strategy” is simply an attempt to centralise and close dozens of schools, the Council has asked selected parents to give their public support for the policy. The Council has refused a request from Cymdeithas yr Iaith for other parents who oppose the strategy also to be given the same platform so as to present the full story.

Therefore, Cymdeithas yr Iaith is today releasing the evdence of parents from Llanfihangel-ar-arth – a village decimated by the Council’s decision to take away it’s school. In her evidence, Margaret Bowen (a farmer and educational tutor from the village) describes how the school closure led to losing the village shops and undermined community life.

She calls on parents in other threatened villages to fight the moves and not to believe the “empty promises” of Education Officers. Margaret had 3 children attending the Village School at Llanfihangel-ar-arth, and one other in the Nursery Unit.

Cymdeithas yr Iaith will be holding a major demonstration outside County Hall on the morning of the Council vote on December 8th. Regional Assembly member, Helen Mary Jones, has agreed to address the protesters together with many representatives from the threatened communities.