The Isle of Wight, one of the more isolated and poorest counties in the UK, is going through a big debate about education and how it will be organized going forward. As an island, it does not always share or have the same services as the mainland Britain. All its public services have been under threat from Central Government funding. The maternity ward of the main and only hospital for example was to be moved to the Mainland meaning that for a family to visit a new born child, it would cost over GBP 60 pounds. Pretty unfair you might think. Now it is the turn of the education. The local authority, probably not the best in the country, has ordered a review of education, not to service the needs of the local communities, but to secure Government funding from Westminster.

The review was a fait accompli, but was the Government latest views on sustainable communities taken into account? Let’s see.

The proposed changes to the education system will see the wholesale closure of village schools which average between 40-60 pupils and the creation of large super schools. This will apply to all levels of schooling but particularly affects primary schools. What will be the impact of these changes? Well, the first will be a further disintegration of schools as part of a village or small township. The primary school is the focus of a lot of interaction for these communities: sport; school plays; fetes; social days. These will be absorbed elsewhere. The second will be more travel for all concerned. Children as young as five will now have to travel up to an hour a day to school.

This leads to congestion, especially on an island with narrow roads anyway, and more school miles. It also means that those that don’t have cars are disadvantaged. Finally, larger schools do not necessarily better serve children, especially young children from small communities.

If you read DEFRA’s many missives on sustainable communities and congestion you do wonder if they ever talk to another Department at Westminster. If this Government is serious about the environment and creating sustainable communities it needs to look at the decentralization services that can reduce congestion, transport miles and promote local employment and community. Education is one such service which is better decentralized. Could the Government support its policies on sustainable communities by rejecting the Education Department’s missives and begin to set a new standard? It could start with the Isle of Wight and so avoid the insincerity that we so often associate with big Government.