Closing schools labelled 'vandalism' at meeting

CLOSING schools is an act of 'educational and social vandalism' the parent of a St Andrew's Primary pupil claimed last night.

In an ill-tempered two-hour meeting held at St Sampson's High School, Alex Murphy launched a scathing attack on the Education Department's proposals to close the schools and how they had handled themselves during the recent debates.

'The amateurism of the presentation you have given is staggering,' he said. 'At the last meeting I had to correct the spelling on the slides and tonight you have left out the apostrophe in "won't." You have libelled our teachers and based it all on a single, out of date report."

Mr Murphy's comment received a standing ovation and rapturous applause from the near-200 strong crowd who attended the sixth and final public meeting on the proposed closures of St Sampson's Infants and St Andrew's Primary schools.

After a 30-minute introduction – a quarter of the available time – people got the chance to put their questions to the Education board.

Tempers quickly frayed with accusations of lies about available places at schools, the undermining attitude of the board towards the schools slated for closure and the apparent betrayal of the results achieved by single-form entry schools.