The education minister warned tonight that there would have to be “an uncomfortable and necesssary conversation” about the “repurposing and realigning” of the island’s primary school system.

Diallo Rabain said that talks would have to be held alongside the move to axe middle schools.

He added that a change to the network of 18 primary schools would mean better use of resources and that any talks would need to be “at arm’s length from politics”.

Mr Rabain was speaking at the annual delegates conference of the Progressive Labour Party, which opened tonight at the St Paul AME Centennial Hall in Hamilton.

He told the meeting: “Any decision will not be made without consultation from you, the collective.

“However, we have to be bold. We have to open our minds and always be ready to to the one thing we always must do when talking about our students, which is to put their needs ahead of our own.”