Axe hangs over village schools in the Dordogne

THE bean counters have moved in to this quiet corner of the Dordogne and an axe hangs over one of three primary schools.

Parents and local officials protested over the weekend at the decision to close one of the classes at either Mazeyrolles, Saint-Cernin-de-l'Herm or Prats-du-Périgord.

A decision will be made next month, but it means one teacher will be out of a job and longer car journeys or bus trips for the young students.

In the past parents have raised money to help provide laptops and tablet PCs, as well as help improve school buildings and canteen facilities.

And while it all comes down to a fall in the number of children set to be in the area over the coming years, I couldn't fail to notice a strange juxtaposition.

In the last couple of days I've been helping a local person with their internet connection that actually comes via a satellite dish on the roof of his house.

He can not receive ADSL broadband via the telephone line, and so has installed a satellite system, while other homes around his also sprouted similar pieces of kit.

But not everyone can afford such systems and so many homes in the area have no broadband service and so people can not pick up the best online prices, download local authority forms and children are denied the chance to use the web for homework.

This puts a break on future choices and obviously makes it difficult for businesses to establish themselves in the area and for families to move to the countryside.

So if the area is to lose a school class, and a teacher, it would be good to see some of the money saved diverted into improving internet access - somehow I doubt it will happen.

And so as the grip of the bean counters tighten, it seem that the words on the posters held up by children saying 'a closed school means a dead village' may yet come true.