THE Welsh Assembly Government's provision of additional funds for the school modernisation programme is good news for Carmarthenshire.

However, I feel a deep sense of disappointment that the council has no plans to deal with the many old, substandard buildings such as Hendy Primary School, which are still in use today. These are no longer fit for purpose and provide poor environments for learning. It seems that the division between the 'haves' and 'have nots' is set to continue for many years to come.

Hendy Primary School will be 100 years old in a few weeks time. I attended the school and so did my children. The prospect of my grandchildren (yet to be born) being educated in this building in years to come is becoming an increasingly bleak probability.

County councillor and executive member for education, Gwynne Wooldridge commented after the award of WAG funds: "This funding means that thousands more will have access to first class facilities, offering fantastic opportunities to our young pupils which will stand them in good stead for the rest of their lives."

These words have a hollow ring to them when our children face a future being taught in out-of-date, rundown and substandard buildings.

I am mystified as to how the county council decides on its priorities for school building improvements. Why, in a falling rolls situation, are relatively modern secondary school buildings at Strade, Coedcae and St John Lloyd (a recently built school) being upgraded? Why were two perfectly adequate secondary schools in Carmarthen town — built in the 1950s and 1960s — demolished and a new £28 million school built to replace them at a time when so many of our primary schools were in such a parlous state? Would it not be more sensible to replace and improve substandard primary buildings before proceeding with the expensive and unpopular reorganisation of secondary education in the Gwendraeth Valley?

As a governor and former pupil of Hendy school and a lifelong resident in the village, I feel that it is vital that the voices of local people are listened to and that action is taken as a matter of urgency to give our children a decent environment for their education.

Gareth Beynon Thomas

Hendy