This article appears as part of the Lessons to Learn newsletter.

The smallest high school in Scotland is facing closure, but local people say they are victims of council neglect and managed decline that raises questions about Scotland’s commitment to education in rural areas.

This is the kind of story you might assume comes from a so-called ‘remote’ corner of the Highlands, or an apparently ‘isolated’ island community; in reality, this is happening at the other end of the country, pretty much right in the middle of Dumfries and Galloway.

The school in question is Dalry Secondary which had just 13 students during the last school year, down from 44 in 2021/22. It provides education for young people from S1 to S4, with those seeking to continue their education then typically transferring to Castle Douglas High School.

Back in the spring of 2024, I visited the area to speak to parents and campaigners who were fighting plans to mothball the facility, in part because they saw this as an attempt to completely close their school by stealth.

A day with the communities fighting to save their school

Rural school saved as mothballing plans are put on hold

Are rural schools at risk in Dumfries and Galloway?

Communities call for transformation to protect rural education

I heard that the wider area, known as the Glenkens, had been the victim of a “lack of aspiration” from the local council, which stood accused not just of allowing the local population to decline, but of making decisions that have actively accelerated that process.

These people didn’t want their area trapped in aspic –........

© Herald Scotland