Two Deal secondary schools can have their say about the future of their children’s education at meetings next month.

County councillors have given the go-ahead for public consultation for possible amalgamation.

A report from officers told of a falling population which posed a “significant challenge to the viability” of Castle Community College and Walmer Science College as separate institutions.

Education chiefs, in a report, also said standards could be in jeopardy.

The report proposed closing both schools and establishing a new successor school on the Castle Community College site in Mill Road, possibly to open by 2013.

Part of Walmer Science College would probably be developed as a vocational centre for all schools in the area, with spare land off Salisbury Road possibly being sold.

The governing bodies of the two schools will be submitting their own views.

Public meetings will be held at Castle Community College, Mill Road, Deal, on Tuesday, November 17, and at Walmer Science College, Salisbury Road, the following day. Both start at 7pm.