School clusters debate

David Hay, 12 Victoria Park, Minard

It’s time to end this school cluster bùrach.

The ill-advised and harmful proposal by Argyll and Bute Council to reduce the number of head teachers in Argyll and Bute must be left on the ash heap of history by our council leadership.

This plan during an increasingly extended consultation process has been justifiably slated by parents, teachers and community councils in every corner of Argyll and Bute as well as Scotland’s largest teaching union.

I can say with great confidence that practically no one wants these changes, yet there seems to be an obsession in Kilmory with pressing on with this bùrach.

Now it’s time for those elected officials who hold leadership and policy positions to come out firmly and strongly against these changes and, if they can’t, they must explain why.

Members of the public in Argyll and Bute are frankly getting tired of this babe in the woods routine from some councillors who continue to pass the buck of responsibility on to others.

Do they support the overwhelming views of their constituents or do they side with the harmful plans conjured up by the bureaucrats of Kilmory? small, is a generous way you can help us bring hope to those desperately hungry children who often need to work or beg for food to survive.

With the promise of a daily meal in a place of education, Mary’s Meals is attracting hungry children into the classroom giving them the energy to learn how to read and write.

For children like 13-year-old Ballah from Liberia – who used to skip school – Mary’s Meals fills his stomach and is allowing him to gain a precious education so he can follow his dreams of becoming a doctor.

‘Food is important,’ he says. ‘Most days, I don’t eat breakfast and I feel so hungry I can barely study. After eating Mary’s Meals, I feel active.

‘When I qualify as a doctor, I’d like to stay in Liberia and teach others how to do the same.’

With a gift in your will, you can help us keep our promise to more than 2.2 million children in some of the world’s poorest communities who rely on our nutritious meals and will be giving children like Ballah the chance of a brighter future. If you would like more information visit www.marysmeals.org.uk/will.

Lori Cobley, partnership manager at Mary’s

Meals

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