Hatch pledges to fight for retention of Village and Rural Schools
Ulster Unionist candidate for Upper Bann for the forthcoming Assembly elections, Alderman Arnold Hatch, has vowed to fight the threatened closures of schools in his constituency.In a statement, Mr Hatch said: “Schools listed include Lurgan College and Birches Primary School, Bleary Primary School and the historic village school in Scarva.
“I believe a lot more work needs to be done to challenge assertions in the Bain Report which is more about saving money than saving schools.
“The Department of Education’s Inspectorate have never utilised a small school in terms of its educational standards. In many ways village and rural children attain higher standards by the time they reach P7 than their counterparts in large urban schools.
“So let us put children and parents first and research what is best for sustainable schools not only in Upper Bann but also in Northern Ireland taking into account the quality of life for rural dwellers.”