EDUCATION chiefs insist they will not shy away from controversial plans to close or merge schools as birth rate falls and population declines in parts of Kent.

And in a radical move they are to recommend that schools should in future decide among themselves how to solve the problems of falling rolls.

Kent County Council’s plan to shut its smallest school, Ripple School in East Kent, was frustrated last week when the Schools Adjudicator ruled that the primary school should stay open.

Cllr Leyland Ridings (Con), KCC cabinet member for schools organisation, warned the authority would have to confront the sharp fall in demand for primary places in some parts of the county.

County education chiefs forecast that while there will be an overall rise in demand for school places over the next four years, some areas can expect a slump in demand for primary places.

Cllr Ridings, who said KCC would always be cast as villain, said: “We are stuck between a rock and a hard place. We have the Government breathing down our neck to get rid of surplus places and terrible confrontation with schools when we try to address the issue.

"The only way round it is to have a detailed plan for the whole of Kent on an area-by-area basis.”

In future, “clusters” of schools within an area would have to address the issue in partnership with the education authority, he said.

“We need to look at this in a totally different way. We need to involve the local cluster groups in the decision-making process.”

KCC was not “picking off” small schools, he added. “I do not get a kick out of doing this at all. People should not get the impression that we are looking for the next school to pick off.”

The authority’s Schools Organisation Plan forecasts the drop in demand for primary places will be most acute in Dover, which could “lose” 870 primary places, followed by Gravesham (810), Sevenoaks (600) and Tonbridge and Malling (140).

Cllr Ridings gas commissioned a special study of projected birth rates and other population data to guide KCC’s plans. That analysis will not be completed for several months but is likely to indicate where the problems will be worst.