Shock new figures have revealed overcrowding at schools across Inverness will reach “crisis point” within 15 years.
All five city secondary schools are forecast to be over capacity within a decade amid ongoing housing development and population growth, despite efforts to cap pupil roll numbers this year.
By 2030, the new Inverness Royal Academy is projected to be housing 647 pupils more than its 1,064 total roll, and Culloden Academy is expected to have 518 pupils above its 968 capacity.
Charleston Academy and Millburn Academy are predicted to reach 126% capacity and Inverness High School is expected to peak at 103%.
Many of the city’s primary schools are already facing serious overcrowding problems, and this remains a priority for the local authority.
The figures were published yesterday, just days after it emerged that Scotland has tumbled down the international education rankings in a host of core school subjects.
Last night, Inverness South councillor Ken Gowans said the situation was “frightening” and described it as a “crisis point”.
He added: “This is a serious problem for us. The trend is that all of these schools are going to be at capacity, so why are we allowing builders to build hundreds of homes? We just don’t have anywhere to put the kids.
“We need to ensure there is sufficient funding within the capital plan. We need to make sure we deal with the fundamentals. We can’t be spending money on wish list projects and we have to spend on what is essential. We really need to look at the service we must provide, and education is a statutory service and the quality of education in Inverness will suffer because of this.”
Inverness Royal Academy is currently at 95% capacity but is forecast to reach 104% by 2018, 141% by 2025 and finally 161% in 2030.
Rolls at feeder schools such as Cauldeen, Hilton, Holm and Lochardil are also expected to spiral, however a new primary school is planned at Ness side.
Charleston Academy is currently at 91% capacity but by 2020 it is expected to reach 103% and continue rising to 126% by 2030.
Millburn Academy is currently 92% but is expected to be full by 2019, and is on course to reach 126% capacity by 2030.
The likes of Crown, Milton of Leys and Raigmore primaries either already are, or will exceed, capacity.
Culloden Academy is currently 109% capacity and this is predicted to rise to 116% by 2020, reaching 154% by 2030.
Croy, Duncan Forbes and Smithton primaries are those predicted to be most affected.
Inverness High School is currently at 69% capacity but is predicted to hit 79% by 2020, 100% in 2027 and 103% by 2030.
Central and Merkinch primaries are predicted to feel most of the pressure on their school rolls.
Councillor Drew Millar, the local authority’s education committee chairman, said: “In the last 18 months there has been a lot of talking but very little progress. It’s now apparent that there will
be potential problems for secondary schools in a few years’ time and we’ve still not sorted out the situation with primary schools. At the moment primary schools are our priority.
“What we need now is action. I would like to see us look at building a really big primary school in Inverness, as it must be cheaper to do this, but if there is not a suitable location then we will look at something else.”
Mr Millar added that the issue will be discussed at Thursday’s full council meeting and that the local authority’s capital plan will be reviewed to ensure overcrowding in schools is properly addressed.
