Tivyside | Archive | 2005 | June | 22
From the Tivyside Advertiser, first published Wednesday 22nd Jun 2005.
The death knell is sounding for Ysgol Ferwig - although governors and the local community are fighting to keep the school open.
The school has only 10 pupils - and will dip to just nine in the new school year in September.
Consultations have already been held between the local authority, the school and the community - but the general consensus seems to be that the Ysgol Ferwig is heading towards closure.
At last week's Ceredigion education committee, director Gareth Jones admitted the future looked bleak. "The school is heading down an inevitable path," he said.
Local county councillor Haydn Lewis - whose children were former pupils - agreed.
"The numbers make it very difficult. The parents of the area want to close it by taking their children elsewhere. It is not a healthy situation to have under 10 children with 95% of those being girls."
But chairman of govenors Ann Stokoe said the governing body was determined to keep the school open. "We are happy with the education we are providing the children and we will be doing our best to keep the school open," she said.
"Other authorities would do well to look at how Ceredigion is handling the matter," said committee chairman Ian ap Dewi.
"If the decision for closure comes from the community then it's the best way forward."
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