IT SHAMES Pembrokeshire to read that the four schools in the south are not well. The question to be answered is why?

Everybody should know that the head is all important.

The strength, personality, ambitions and aims, the moral character and clear thinking of the head are reflected in any business, the more so in large institutions.

The job of running a school is enormous, especially a large comprehensive school the larger the school, the more demanding the job.

Where does the failure start? Muddled thinking about finance?

Why is it better to demolish a building and spend a few million pounds on a new building and amalgamate two large schools to make one enormous school?

Where is the money best spent – on expensive architects and bricks and mortar or on plenty of good staff and teachers? How likely is it that a head teacher can be found who is capable of running such a large school?

And if such a person were found, would he/she be left alone to run the school, or would there be other experts breathing down his or her neck?

Teachers care for children.

They are creative people and develop their way with the children and wish them to learn and grow into happy usefully creative people.

But that becomes impossible when the atmosphere of the school is not right, and nor can they function fully with people breathing down their necks and putting unnecessary pressure on them.

The economy of scale may work on a production line, but it does not work on the human scale.

J D M FOLDER

West Williamston