Shcools with no pupils

Two more primary schools in Wales are technically open despite having no pupils. Last week Education Minister Leighton Andrews said Carmarthenshire council's decision to keep Capel Iwan, near Newcastle Emlyn, open was "bonkers."

Now Gwynedd and Ceredigion councils have confirmed they each have a primary school without pupils.

The councils said both would now be closed after parents had withdrawn their children. Although Ysgol Abergynolwyn near Tywyn in Gwynedd and Mydroilyn Primary School near Llanarth in Ceredigion were earmarked for closure in the future, they were due to welcome pupils back in September. But parents have decided to send their children elsewhere.

Both councils said the statutory process to close them was now underway. Most staff at the schools have been redeployed, although a caretaker is still employed at Ysgol Abergynolwyn for an hour each day.

Both authorities, however, will still need to fund maintenance of the schools. Ceredigion council said the costs were "relatively minimal - but difficult to quantify precisely, at this stage".

Carmarthenshire Council came under fire recently after it emerged Ysgol Capel Iwan would open next term even though it had no pupils. Parents of the five children due to return to the school in September withdrew their children amid concerns it would be closed the following year.