Parents of Highland primary school pupils have rallied to fight proposed education cuts with just days to go before the deadline for feedback.
The parent council at Tarradale Primary in Muir of Ord held an emergency meeting on Friday to settle a plan of action against the cutbacks.
Among the proposals in the council’s budget consultation document is a reduction of 30 minutes in the school day for youngsters in primary four and above.
This would be achieved by either a later start, an earlier finish, or a longer lunch break.
Jason Hasson, who has two sons at Tarradale, said: “This would effectively result in 100 hours, or four weeks, of teaching time being lost from the average school term.
“This has huge implications, in particular for staff who would have to decide what they are going to leave out, and if the Curriculum For Excellence can still be achieved.
“It would have huge implications for working families, as most parents schedule their employment around school hours, and any changes would impact on childcare arrangements.”
The proposals would save Highland Council up to £3.2million, as it aims to slash its budget by £64million over four years.
Voters have until Friday to respond to the consultation.
Another parent, Lynn Main of Nairn, chairwoman of Millbank Primary Parent Council, spoke out against the proposal last night.
Ms Main, who has a 10-year-old daughter at the school, and a son, aged 14, at Nairn Academy, said: “I am against any cuts that affect education.
“I appreciate that it represents a large part of the council’s budget, but there should not be any changes to the school day.
“Half-an-hour does not sound much, but over the schooling life of a child it is a huge total, and the parent council wants as many people as possible to make their views known.”
Highland Council’s budget leader Maxine Smith could not reached for comment last night.
However, the consultation document says: “Many of the proposals contained in this consultation are not pleasant. They reflect the lack of choice now available to us, given the level of savings we have already made over the past eight years.”