Sinn Féin deputy leader Michelle O'Neill has backed calls to prevent the closure of St Mary’s Primary School in Fivemiletown.
The Council for Catholic Maintained Schools has submitted a proposal to the Education Authority to wind up St Mary's PS Fivemiletown this summer.
The school, which has 43 pupils and three classrooms, could close from August 31 but a group representing parents, governors and staff believe it currently meets the minimum standards to stay open.
READ MORE: Hundreds take to streets of Fivemiletown to protest planned school closure
Following a visit to the school, O’Neill said she would make her opposition to the proposal clear to the Department of Education and the CCMS.
"I was incredibly impressed by the passion and determination of the representatives of the school community that I met today,” O’Neill said.
“The children I met were clearly happy and thriving. The school is a bright and vibrant place, and parish priest Fr Brendan Gallagher is clear how vital a role the school plays in the parish.
“The parents and Governors I met presented robust and verifiable evidence to show the school's growing enrolment, its strong financial position and the educational outcomes it is achieving for the children.
“That is why I will be acting urgently to ensure my opposition to the proposal to close the school is made clear to the Department of Education and calling on CCMS to withdraw the proposal.
“Closing a small, rural school like this is not in the interests of anyone in the Fivemiletown community, and is the antithesis of the progress we've made over the last 25 years."
The CCMS has said it is continuing to work with those in the local community in order to explore options for how to keep the school open.
The final decision on whether the school will close or not will come down to an Education Minister, or in the lack of a Stormont Executive, a Permanent Secretary.
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