asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many primary schools in rural areas have been closed since 1979.

There is no statutory categorisation of schools into rural and non-rural schools. All school closures reported to my Department between September 1982 and September 1984, the latest date for which this information is available, were included in the reply given by my hon. Friend, the Member for Eastwood on 11 July 1985 to the hon. Member for Dundee East at columns 521–2. I will write to the hon. Member about primary school closures before September 1982.

asked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many teachers there are in primary schools in rural areas at the latest available date; and how many there were in 1979.

This information is not held centrally. The most recent information on the overall numbers of teachers in education authority primary schools is contained in SED statistical bulletin No. 1/B1/1985. Copies of this and the earlier bulletins on the same subject are available in the Library.