An Comunn Gàidhealach Publications > Sruth > Volume 1 > No. 39, 19 September 1968

Newspaper of current Events in the Highlands,
the Islands and in Scotland
DI-ARDAOIN, 19 LATHA DE N SULTUIN 1968
THURSDAY, 19th SEPTEMBER 1968
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SCOTLAND'S BI-LINGUAL NEWSPAPER-
PROBLEMS OF ISLANDERS
EDUCATION
Call for Independent Enquiry
The problems of educating
I senior secondary school children
i living in remoter areas, par-
1 ticularly the Islands, is one that
| demands immediate attention.
I Scots playwright and former
I president of the District Coun-
| cils Association of Scotland,
IMr Robert MacLellan nas
called for an independent en¬
quiry to be held.
I Unsatisfactory travel arrange¬
ments for pupils from Arran,
where Mr McLellan lives,
travelling to Rothesay Academy
resulted recently in a row be¬
tween parents and the autho¬
rities.
Throughout the Highlands
hundreds of children must live
away from home for too long
1 periods because of the distance
to the nearest senior secondary
school. It is not unusual for
these children to be denied the
benefits of growing up whh
their own families during tne
formative years from the time
they are say 11 years old until
they are 18—except for their
summer, winter and Easter
school vacations. A very high
percentage go on to take univer¬
sity courses and the chances of
their finding employment near
home are of course, slender.
The numbers of Islands child¬
ren deprived in this wav are
too high and the policy of hav¬
ing fewer but larger and better-
equipped schools is bound to ag¬
gravate an already unsatisfac¬
tory situation.
Certain mainland areas are
also affected. In Sutherland the
controversy has raged for many
years and this year Dornocn
Academy was downgraded and
two schools serving the remote
west coast have been regraded
to ‘O’ level status.
Mr MacLellan argues that,
many smaller secondary schools
offered a very reasonable num¬
ber of subjects and he considers
that the advantage of children
living at home outweighs that
of having a wider range of sub-
jects. The policy of “streaming”
at university entrance level
successfully operated in Den¬
mark and elsewhere should be
gone into.
As well as Sutherland, Wes¬
ter Ross, Inverness-shire, Argyll
and Orkney all have problems
in educating island children.
Argyll, for example, have to
cater for a very wide area in¬
cluding Ardnamurchan, Lis-
more, Colonsay, Jura and Mml
with three senior secondary
schools in Oban, Dunoon and
Campbeltown.
It is significant to note that
by co-operating with Inverness-
shire Education Authority, Ard¬
namurchan children are sent to
Fort William. Perhaps this sug¬
gests a solution to break down
the false barriers of county
boundaries and consider the
problem as one that is com¬
mon throughout the .Highlands
rather than confined within the
bounds of existing administra¬
tive units. The introduction of
modern sophisticated teaching
aids such as video tapes, teach¬
ing machines and programmed
instruction courses would help
to solve the problem. An inde¬
pendent enquiry would no doubt
investigate all such possibilities.
LIBERAL LEADER TO
VISIT ROSS-SHIRE
With Scottish Secretary of
State Mr William Ross and
Leader of the Tory Opposi¬
tion, Mr Edward Heath,
both having completed tours
of the Highlands, Liberal
Leader Mr Jeremy Thorpe
will now undertake a similar
tour in October.
Accompanied by Mr Geo.
Mackie, chairman of the
Scottish Liberal Party, and
Mr Alasdair Mackenzie, Ross
and Cromarty’s M.P., Mr
Thorpe will visit Tain, the
site of British Aluminium’s
smelter at Invergorden, and
Dingwall on Monday Oct¬
ober 7. During the whistle-
stop tour of the Ross-shire
constituency, Mr Thorpe will
also visit the Provosts of
Tain, Invergorden and Ding¬
wall, and meet County Coun¬
cil officials at Dingwall.
To date there is no indi¬
cation that he will ‘stop over’
in Inverness.
QUEEN MARY’S HOUSE
DEMOLITION
Inverness Town Council’s
Planning Committee have
been informed that the Sec¬
retary of State for Scotland,
Mr William Ross, has no ob¬
jections to offer to the dem¬
olition of Queen Mary’s
House, Bridge Street, for the
privately-proposed re-devel¬
opment scheme on the north
side of Bridge Street. In the
letter announcing the deci¬
sion it was stated that the
Secretary of State considered
that the main part of the
vaults should be retained.
CUILEAGAN SEASG
Tha sinn ag cluinntinn gun
do lorg an fheadhainn a rinn
am pile casg-gineil doigh air
casg a chuir air seolachadh
plaighean chuileag mar a
mheanbh chuileag is am mos-
gito. Tha gach cuileag a dol
seisg is tha so mar tinneas
gabhaltach a ruitheas orra air
fad. A bheil latha na meanbh
chuileig seachad?
neerness
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SKYE WOOLLEN MILLS, PORTREE, SKYE Telephone Portree 89
A reinforced concrete bridge in Glen Affric Forest, Inverness-shire.
This is but one example of the role of civil engineer which is under¬
taken by the Forestry Commission and mentioned in the 1967 Annual
Report. The bridge makes road access possible to several thousand
acres of plantable land on the south side of Loch Affric. The peaks are
Mam Sodhail (3,862 ft.) and, nearer at hand, Sgurr na Lapaich (3,401 ft.).
The natural birch and old Caledonian pines in the background are old
pine reserves, where the only trees planted are those raised from
native stock. Photo by courtesy of the Forestry Commission, whose
annual report will be featured in our next issue.
ALEX. CAMERON & CO.
12-22 HIGH STREET
INVERNESS
Telephone 30081/82
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