With no shop, no bar and not even a postbox, Muck is one of Scotland's most far-flung outposts. The Hebridean island, which has a permanent population of about 40 and only seven children, sounds like the perfect spot for a teacher searching for a quiet life.
But finding a new head teacher for Muck’s tiny primary school has proven so difficult that the local community has launched a global social media hunt for a replacement.
The post has been vacant since May, when previous principal Julie Baker moved back to the mainland, 26km away. When no teacher appeared for the beginning of the new term, islanders began circulating job adverts online, attracting interest across the world.
Since then the Highland council has been inundated with inquiries for a post that includes a “remote school allowance” of £2,475, a “distant islands allowance” of £1,941, and a salary of up to £35,000 (€41,000).
Applications closed on Monday and whoever gets the job will need to adjust quickly to life on the smallest of the Small Isles in the Inner Hebrides. Muck is only about four square miles with a single road connecting the main settlement, the harbour at Port Mòr, with Gallanach.
Ferry service
The island was thought to be the last place in
Scotland
to get 24-hour power in 2013. Even now residents can find themselves reading by candlelight when the community generator fails. The regular ferry service is often suspended during all-too-frequent winter bad weather.
“In winter there is only 35 to 40 of us here and we do get cut off for up to a week when storms come through. Some people can struggle to cope with it, especially those who smoke,” says farmer Colin MacEwen whose family has owned the island for more than a century.
“There are lots of wonderful things about living in an island community in a beautiful part of the world, but the isolation can be difficult especially in the short winter days.”
The ingenuity of parents on Muck is not uncommon, says Skye-based councillor Drew Millar, chairman of education at Highland council. Last year, Scoraig, a remote mainland settlement, successfully ran a campaign on Facebook to recruit a new teacher.
"The response was fantastic. There were over 300 applications. They weren't all great but it was an incredible response," Millar told The Irish Times.
But attracting new people to come to isolated Scottish communities is a growing challenge for Highland council.
“It’s unfortunately very difficult to get teachers, especially head teachers for our rural schools in the Highlands,” says Millar.
“It takes a particular type of person that would want to live on a small island community. Once you are on there you can’t just nip off for a pint of milk or a loaf of bread – everything has to be planned.”
Scotland’s craggy coastline is home to about 800 islands, of which only 94 are inhabited. Of these, just 14 are home to more than 1,000 inhabitants.
Life on smaller islands can be tough. The Outer Hebridean island of Barra was left without mobile phone coverage for three months this year after problems with the mast.
About 40 schools in the Highlands and islands have between two and 20 students. Finding teachers for these small schools is a recurring problem.
Highland living
The quest for a new teacher on Muck began after the previous six candidates for the role dropped out, deciding that life on Muck was not for them. In 2013, a new teacher from
Glasgow
quit shortly after stepping off the ferry following the two-hour crossing and left the next day.
Service provision can be patchy throughout the Highlands. Many young people leave for professional jobs in cities such as Glasgow and Edinburgh, says Kate Forbes, Scottish National Party member of the devolved parliament for Skye Lochaber and Badenoch.
“It’s not unique to teaching and it’s not unique to remote islands. Across the Highlands and islands we are really struggling to get doctors, professionals and teachers,” says Forbes, who at 26 was elected to the Scottish parliament in May.
“The problem isn’t money; it’s whether you can survive in a remote community.”
Forbes, who lives in the town of Dingwall outside Inverness, has first-hand experience of the challenges of Highland living.
“All my peers are no longer in Dingwall, in terms of friendship they are now distant friendships. The problem isn’t money, it’s community. You can’t manufacture community,” she says.
Part of the solution, says Forbes, lies online. “Far more could be done in terms of virtual communities. We have a plan to roll out super-fast broadband but sadly a lot of the rural areas haven’t benefited yet from super-fast broadband.”
Muck does not have wifi yet, but according to Highland council it does have “many species of birds, including corncrakes and puffins, and other resident animals such as otters and seals”. Parents on the island are hoping that for now the wildlife and the scenery will be enough to attract a new teacher.
