This week's public meeting in Enniskillen organised by the Fermanagh Unionist Association provided plenty of food for thought on how best to structure primary and post-primary education in the county.

A document drawn up by the Western Education and Library Board suggests a number of options, one of which could make most rural primary schools redundant, never mind post-primary schools. For a county that, traditionally, has prided its inheritance, such a scenario is unthinkable. Likewise, the prospect of no purely academic strain, instead a mixture of academic and vocational.

By next Tuesday, the Board will be closing the door on submissions, and the word on the streets is that public opinion favours things being left as they are.

Unfortunately, that is not an option. There are simply too many schools and not enough pupils, with too much resources being expended without an appropriate return.

But, all is not lost. The meeting hinted at schools from either side of the divide pooling their resources as part of a compromise arrangement.

It was fitting that the spokeswoman for Concerned Parents stressed the importance of local input. Solutions may be agreed locally, she said and if people can come up with a proposal that is respectful, a compromise and realistic, then they have more chance of success.

This could be, she suggested, a great opportunity to correct the weaknesses in the system while retaining it's strengths. Banning academic selection and discouraging competition will not do that, she added.