Protesters calling for more protection for rural schools staged a demonstration at county council offices in Aberystwyth.

The protest, organised by Cymdeithas yr Iaith, coincided with a Welsh Assembly Members discussion about a petition about the future of rural schools in Wales.

The petition was started by the parent teacher association of a north Wales school facing closure and received more than 5,000 signatures.

During the Aberystwyth protest, Cymdeithas members presented a letter to the council’s education Cabinet member Catrin Miles and corporate director Barry Rees.

Cymdeithas has warned that, despite a code by education secretary Kirsty Williams, local councils are still pushing ahead with closures despite the code outlining a presumption in favour of protecting rural schools.

A Cymdeithas spokesperson who attended the Aberystwyth protest said: “In Ceredigion parents and children from a school under threat, along with Cymdeithas supporters, gathered to present a letter for the attention of Catrin Miles, the education portfolio holder, and Barry Rees, the corporate director, asking for assurances that the council would conform with the new School Organisation Code.

“A spokesperson from the education department said that the current consultation on the future of three schools in the Cardigan catchment area took into account the new regulations, although they were not in force at the beginning of the process, and that the regulations would be implemented in future discussion on schools.”

Ffred Ffransis, the education spokesperson for Cymdeithas, said it was vital schools in rural areas like many of those in Ceredigion are given more protection.

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