First minister Humza Yousaf has been forced to defend the Scottish government’s record on protecting rural schools after it emerged that dozens had been either closed or mothballed in a five-year period.
Mr Yousaf came under attack over the closure of rural schools due to falling pupil rolls at First Minister’s Questions when the Scottish Conservatives’ education spokesperson, Stephen Kerr, asked if he was going to “turn his back on rural Scotland”.
Mr Kerr was calling for the fist minister to make his position clear after a joint investigation by The Herald and The Ferret revealed that 20 schools were mothballed and 20 were shut permanently between April 2018 and February 2023, with 15 more at risk.
Mr Kerr said the figures were “alarming” and “evidence of the blatant disregard that this Scottish National Party government has for the rural and remote areas of Scotland”.
He said that families and children in rural Scotland were being “left high and dry by the SNP’s neglect” and that of the 15 more schools at risk one was in his own constituency (Central Scotland).
Mr Kerr asked: “Will the first minister, like his predecessor [Nicola Sturgeon], turn his back on rural Scotland, or will he take this opportunity to send a strong message of support for our rural schools?”
‘Depopulation’ threatens some rural schools
Mr Yousaf responded that the government had brought in “a whole host of protections” for rural schools, including that councils have to demonstrate they have considered alternatives to closure and that if a proposal is rejected it cannot be repeated for five years.
Mr Yousaf acknowledged that “depopulation is a serious issue” and said the government was “taking a range of actions” to address it.
He added: “The hard Brexit that has been imposed by Stephen Kerr and his colleagues has not helped with European migration to Scotland.”
Later Mr Yousaf said the SNP’s rural visa pilot proposal would enable rural and remote communities to attract migrants in line with local needs, and that this would “bolster school communities in pilot areas”.
He urged the UK government “to deliver the pilot scheme or, even better, give us the powers over immigration so that we can do it ourselves”.
