Rural primary schools earmarked for closure

THREE small rural schools in West Tyrone are under threat of closure as a result of falling enrolment numbers.

Drumduff PS near Sixmilecross and Drumlish and Tummery primary schools near Dromore have all been recommended for closure by the Education Authority, as they fall short of the 105 sustainable target.

St Mary’s PS in Fivemiletown and Queen Elizabeth II in Kilskerry have also been earmarked for closure.

There is widespread disappointment in Drumduff at the development proposal, which will mark the end of an existing school building that has been so much part of the community since it was built in 1936.

Speaking to the UH, parent, Gerard Loughran, said, “The number of pupils attending the school has fallen in recent years, but it remains a key part of the fabric of the area and it is a huge disappointment that the school is now being recommended for closure. This is something which we have feared for sometime and it will remove a key local facility and amenity.

“Every child at Drumduff serves on the altar at the nearby St Patrick’s Church, they attend a youth club and other events in the nearby Flaxmill Centre and are an integral part of both Brackey Handball and Beragh Red Knights GAA clubs.”

In Dromore, the proposal is for future pupils who may have gone to Drumlish and Tummery to now attend the much larger St Dympna’s, which currently has enrolment of just over 200.

The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools (CCMS) has produced extensive documents on the future of the schools. It says that both Drumlish PS and Tummery PS are ‘facing sustainability challenges’ and have ruled out a number of options proposed to keep them open.

The changes being proposed to local primary school education are part of the Education Authority’s Strategic Area Plan covering 2022-27. The organisation says that this document ‘translates the visions of the strategy into practical area planning solutions’.

In addition to the schools in Dromore and Sixmilecross, a pre-publication consultation on the discontinuance of the Queen Elizabeth II PS runs until May 3.

The statutory objection period in relation to the closure of St Mary’s PS in Fivemiletown closes on April 24.