A CALL for independent verification of roll projection figures for north-east Fife secondary schools has been backed by a councillor in the Tay bridgehead area.

In the wake of the suggestion from North East Fife Lib Dem MSP Iain Smith that another look should be taken at the projections, Tory councillor Ron Caird has also expressed concern.

Douglas Chapman, chairman of the council’s education and children’s services committee, said the projected figures “effectively rule out the prospect for the construction of a new Tay bridgehead high school in the near future.”

The figures show that over the next two decades there will be a substantial fall in pupil numbers at Bell Baxter High School in Cupar and Madras College in St Andrews.

Education officials have said it is “impossible to predict future school rolls with absolute certainty,” and that there should be annual reviews.

Mr Smith, whose preference is to build a new bridgehead secondary, has pointed out the figures are “significantly different” from those published by the council two years ago.

Mr Caird pointed out he had recently read a report in The Courier stating Scotland is in the grip of a childbirth boom.

“I wonder if an independent verification of school projection figures might be advisable—especially when the number of births in Fife last year echoed the national trend,” he said.

“Births were up from 3999 in 2006 to 4076 in 2007 —the fifth increase in a row.

“It seems to me that the administration’s figures don’t match or reflect this trend”

Mr Caird also pointed out that at Bell Baxter High School, 200-300 pupils are already spilling over into huts, and that the school is said to be working at capacity.

“Grotty huts are not conducive to creating the right atmosphere for learning—never mind the health and safety aspect.

“Fife Council could be taken to task over the matter,” he said.

“I received part of my own education in huts at the old Bell Baxter School and didn’t find them very pleasant or comfortable.”

Mr Caird said the Conservatives will keep up the pressure for a new bridgehead secondary school, but following the presentation of what he construed as “massaged projection figures,” he thinks the dropping of the proposals “seems to be a done deal.”

Yesterday, James McKinstry, a senior manager in Fife’s education service, said there is already a robust system in place for projecting school rolls.

“It is continuously reviewed—not just by the education service, but also other services across the council, for example, development services.

“Every council recognises that figures such as these are projections and that there will be some variances.

“We use all known indicators to project figures and will be closely monitoring indicators—such as the number of houses being built in Fife and the Scottish birth rate trends,” he said.