School closures

Shouldn’t the “Rural Battering” issue, to which Irvine Inglis draws attention (Letters, 9 February), be left to local authorities? Apparently, there is a “blanket ban” 
imposed by Holyrood on all rural school closures. To what extent is this political decision exacerbating a difficult economic problem?

Take, for example, Aberdeenshire, where a maldistribution of resources results in some schools being grossly overcrowded.

Arguably, difficult political decisions on the optimum use of the education budget, are for local councillors. Would they condone the economic and ethical absurdity of keeping a school open but with no pupils?

Ellis Thorpe

Old Chapel Walk

Inverurie, Aberdeenshire