Fears over future of rural schools in Ceredigion

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00:00 Llangwyrfon is nine miles south of Aberystwyth. The village shop closed some years ago and

00:06 now there are concerns about the school, which has 27 pupils. Owen moved here from Bristol.

00:12 He learned Welsh at the school and wants his sons to continue to be taught there.

00:16 There aren't many schools that are Welsh in the classroom and Welsh in the playground.

00:21 And now these kids are all Welsh and allowing that to diminish goes against everything that's

00:29 important to rural Wales. Llangwyrfon is one of the primary schools that have heard from

00:33 Ceredigion Council that they'll be reviewed. BBC Wales understands up to seven could close.

00:39 The council hasn't confirmed this. A meeting in Llangwyrfon tonight will discuss a campaign

00:44 to save the school. They've said that the school is unsustainable in terms of numbers,

00:48 but in terms of numbers, the children in the village for the next four years are going

00:52 up not down. The nearest school is quite far away. As far as we can gather, the transportation

00:58 costs are going to cancel out any savings that they could be making anywhere else. Ceredigion

01:03 Council said it would be inappropriate to detail the number of schools and any possible

01:07 savings until the review process has started. It added a proposal paper will go before councillors

01:13 in early July. We have to reflect the view of the community. And at the moment, the review

01:19 of the view of the community is that they wish to keep it open. To put the other side

01:23 of the coin, to be fair, is the budget is not only difficult, it's very difficult. And

01:29 the following year is going to be a nightmare. Another of the schools that's been contacted

01:33 is Ysgol Rhos Helig, which has two campuses in the villages of Llanguitho and Bronant.

01:39 Praised by Estyn inspectors in February, the 54 pupil school will be reviewed and both

01:44 campuses could close. To us, it's a huge, devastating impact if this does happen. We've

01:51 got a shop and a pub and a local garage in Llanguitho. There's a pub in Bronant. And

01:59 you know, once you start shutting the rural schools, you take people away from the area.

02:06 People aren't going to be supporting local businesses. Ceredigion Council says this is

02:11 a period of significant challenges for schools and the council, who need to work together

02:16 to operate as efficiently as possible.

02:18 (fire crackling)

02:21 (wind blowing)