Removing education from local authority control would help alleviate the struggles rural schools are facing in teacher recruitment, disinvestment and falling rolls, a former leader has said.

Bruce Robertson, who served as director of education at Highland Council for 10 years, said it was "as important as health” and should be managed in the same way with individual boards and local members appointed.

He said Highland councillors needed to be "braver in making tough decisions" including questioning if it was right to build new schools within three miles of each other.

Later this week the council will discuss plans to close Duror Primary, near Ballachulish, which has a roll of four pupils and another close to Newtonmore, which caters for just two children.

"In the case of education there’s already a postcode lottery across Scotland regarding what pupils actually get from their councils which has resulted in large variations of what really should be a national entitlement,” said Mr Robertson, who is a visiting professor at the Confucius Institute for Scotland's Schools at Strathclyde University.

"This will get worse with the significant cuts to education about to happen.

"I'd like to see education removed nationally from local government control and education boards created as part of a national system such as health.

"Education is a really important national function, as health is.

The Herald: Professor Bruce Robertson said education should be managed in the same was as health Professor Bruce Robertson said education should be managed in the same was as health (Image: Strathclyde University)

"Reducing the number of education authorities to something like ten education boards would be beneficial I believe on a number of fronts.

"I think what I personally would go for is a Highland or potentially a Highland and Islands board. And by the islands, I do mean the Western Isles - Orkney and Shetland are so different."

He said there was a lot of "duplication of functions" in 32 authorities - funding that could be redirected to schools.

“The 32 Councils were introduced in 1996 as unitary authorities and their creation and boundaries were highly politicised," said Mr Robertson, who began his career as a teacher in history and modern studies.

“They’re hugely variable in size - Clackmannanshire has three secondary schools.

"Despite the fact that these good people focused on doing their best for their local authorities, there’s a lot of duplication of functions that would be far more efficiently done, and undoubtedly savings which could be redirected to the schools in different ways.

"However, my main reason for seeking a rethink on this is that we should put the needs of children and young people first.

"The boards would have more strategic remits, a mix of expertise, include representatives from their parts of Scotland and have an absolute on the quality of education."

Mr Robertson served as director of education, culture and sport in Highland Council from 1998-2007 and director of education in Aberdeenshire from 2007-2010 and was awarded an OBE in 2006 for his achievements in the sector.

He said Scotland's first community-built primary school in Strontian was "a good story but should never have happened."

"We've got a beautiful school in Ardnamurchan [and] it's got plenty of capacity to take the Strontian kids in as well," said Mr Robertson, who lives in Nairn.

"What should have happened is that it should have become a three to 18 school because the future of a lot of these places are three to 18.

"And they work really well as far as the curriculum. It would be good for teachers as well.

"It's crazy when you've got a half-empty high school.

The Herald: Strontian primary was built after the community raise £1million Strontian primary was built after the community raise £1million (Image: Strontian community trust)

"That's where councils find it difficult to take these strategic decisions  - they are too close.

"I do think there are some hard searching questions that need to be asked and answered in terms of what's best in terms of education," he added.

Parents at Farr, Gairloch, Kinlochbervie and Ullapool High Schools, which have 400 pupils between them, have launched a national campaign to save their schools.

They say the staffing formula, which allocates teachers based on roll, has "disproportionate impacts" on small, rural schools and have directed their concerns to Jenny Gilruth, Education Secretary.

"There are some places where you must have a school but there are others where you have to question if you need schools within three miles of one another," said Mr Robertson.

"By closing a couple of those, you can have money to redirect."

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He said a suggestion by Highland MSP Kate Forbes that the local authority should be split up to put power closer to communities would need "careful consideration".

 “That’s fine for, say, local planning issues and so on but is it the right thing for education"? said Mr Robertson.

"What would happen there is that I think that there would be an even greater struggle to recruit teachers.

“For example, if there was an Inner Murray Firth council, would they be able to recruit and give these teachers the kind of career pathway that they're looking for?

"One suggestion I have is to consider reinstating more or less the old district council arrangement where very local decisions on local matters could be taken. That leaves the opportunity to decide how best the bigger, strategic services could be run."

He said the University of the Highlands and Islands (UHI) had “not really achieved what it set out to do” and suggested it was "too inward-looking".

He said he would like to see additional teacher training places offered at UHI in English and Gaelic Medium Education (GME), which he said would have population benefits from the Highlands.

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"With the growing number of GME schools it is now at a point where there are simply not enough teachers to go round," said Mr Robertson who also served on Bòrd na Gàidhlig for a time.

"The requirement to attend Sabhal Mòr Ostaig (in Skye) for two years if you’re an applicant for the primary undergraduate course in UHI is a disincentive for those with family and work circumstances that cannot allow it.

"There are real difficulties in recruiting English medium staff across the north of Scotland including the Highlands and Islands but also other mainland areas," he added.

“These days, a lot of people are looking to get out of cities.

“There are looking for a quality job and a nice part of the world but along with that, they're looking for some educational opportunities as well.

“Increasingly, you know, the demographics of the teachers we're looking for these days are people who have got families and commitments.

“They can't relocate to Glasgow or Edinburgh for teacher training. But you shouldn't have to do that.

“There are a huge amount of vacancies, and government are rather quiet about it all because, you know, they encourage Gaelic medium education as as I do.

“But you can't build bricks without straw, can you?

He said that Aberdeenshire Council had recruited teachers from Ireland when he was director of education but Brexit had made this near impossible now.

“We offered them packages to come across, "he said. "That could have been one possible solution.

“We need to have salary incentives to get them to go to these places and stay there.

“So in Kinlochbervie, for example, we are paying that teacher a bit more for going there and giving them maybe housing incentives.

“It’s the impact that has on that village both financially because it's a quality job but also in terms of, you know, the social fabric of the village as well."