The council plans a modernisation scheme

The council has already shut six rural schools in the past year.

It now wants to close 20 more as part of a rationalisation of its estate.

Some new schools would be built but concerns have been raised by parents.

Dumfries and Galloway Council has a £100m public private partnership deal on the table to modernise its entire school stock and build eight new ones.

However, it needs to reduce the number of existing schools.

Hub schools

The council said the proposal was justified because of falling pupil numbers and the crumbling condition of some buildings.

But many of the schools are rural primaries which are often regarded as central to the social and economic health of their community.

In some cases, children from several villages would come together in a new hub school built at a central location.

However, parents have claimed that many pupils would face unacceptably long bus journeys on unsuitable roads.