"WHY" was the word on many parents' lips in the wake of the news of the proposed schools shake-up.

Colin Weeden, head of education policy development at Worcestershire County Council, had a roster of answers over why officers were recommending a return to a two-tier system of primary and secondary schools.

At the heart of the changes lay the need to improve standards, he said. A set-up of first, middle and high schools was simply not working.

He told the Shuttle/Times & News: "There is only so much you can do with fewer and fewer children coming into the schools. The inevitable consequence is there is going to be fewer schools. Smaller families, people delaying families - whatever the reason, there are not as many children."

The decline in pupil numbers had left middle schools particularly vulnerable, he said, leading to the recommendation to close them all down.

He added: "I think standards, at the moment, in the middle schools, have improved in the last two or three years but if we are looking at something for the next generation then we have got to see where are we going."

Retaining a three-tier system would have meant school closures anyway, he said, as schools proved themselves to be "unsustainable". Teachers were also difficult to attract into a middle school system from outside the district, he added.

The changes, especially if Kidderminster lost a high school, would inevitably cause controversy, he said.

"For some people there will be a slightly longer journey to school than there is at the present time but what we have tried to do is minimise that for the youngsters, which is why we have kept so many of the first school sites."