Several schools in Red Cliffs and Merbein are believed to be considering mergers to make the most of federal funding as the deadline approaches for school project submissions.

Member for Mildura Peter Crisp said the Red Cliffs and Merbein schools were facing the hard decision of whether to amalgamate, or whether to submit individual projects for funding from the Building Education Revolution and the National School Pride programs.

Meanwhile, Shadow Minister for Education Martin Dixon has accused the State Government of putting schools under pressure to decide if they will merge, with the threat of no access to State Capital Works funding if they do not agree to do so.

For more of this story, purchase your copy of Monday’s Sunraysia Daily 11/05/2009.