Deep in the heart of Burns country tonight, songs will be sung. But laments will also be heard in Mauchline, the erstwhile home of the bard and his wife Jean Armour, from parents unhappy about the opening this evening by Adam Ingram MSP of a new £8.8m primary school.

For the 460-capacity Mauchline school's very existence suggests to them that the threatened closure of their four small primary schools is a fait accompli. That another new primary school for 520 pupils is due to open in Galston at Easter only stokes their fears. There are now 15,000 primary school places in East Ayrshire, and 9000 pupils to fill them.

The parents say that Sorn, Crossroads, Littlemill and St Xavier's primary schools form the beating, and highly efficient, heart of the rural communities so beloved by Burns - and so championed by the Scottish Government. But if East Ayrshire Council's proposals for the area's schools estate are approved, these little schools could close in June.

The council's argument for their closure is, the parents contend, seriously flawed. They feel it is pushing through the case for closure on "spurious arguments" because they have been landed with two new schools they cannot otherwise fill, and also to pre-empt the Scottish Government's public consultation this spring on a new law about a presumption against closure of rural schools.

"This seems like a short-term fix for a long-term problem, and it will completely destroy our village," says Lord Norreys, whose home at Gilminscroft just outside Sorn was home to the ancestor who married Robert Burns and Jean Armour in Mauchline. His two children attend Sorn primary, and he argues that the closure proposals are out of date.

"We think they were conceived years ago when the population was in decline and after a history of neglect of schools in the region when spending was diverted to social services. But now there's a baby boom in our village."

The council cabinet that will vote on the proposals on March 5 is SNP-led - even though the proposals go against national government policy.

Parent George Hay, whose eldest daughter is in primary one at Sorn, and who hopes his two baby daughters will also attend, says: "This is the first time the SNP has had control of our council. Why are they letting an unpopular previous policy go ahead? We want them to do something else. That's why we voted them in in the first place."

In advance of planned legislation to introduce a statutory "presumption against closure of rural schools", Education Secretary Fiona Hyslop sent a letter last October to all local authorities in Scotland highlighting the importance of preserving quality education in schools, rather than moving to closure to save money, or because of short-term population fluctuations. The importance of assessing the wider impact of school closures on the viability and regeneration of the local community was also stressed.

The consultation period for East Ayrshire's rural schools plan closed on Monday, though parents are still able to lobby council members until the vote.

Mr Hay points out that a new local plan for East Ayrshire, produced before Christmas and incorporating hundreds of new homes, was not adopted by the council in its consultation paper.

The plan suggests that 550 town houses will be built at Mauchline, 90 at Ballochmyle and 160 at Catrine. Prince Charles's proposed eco village that is to be built on Dumfries House land between Auchinleck and Cumnock will include some 300 houses.

Mr Hay adds: "EAC is refusing to consider it. That's a huge number of houses, producing hundreds of new pupils. It's likely the new Mauchline and Galston schools will soon need to be extended, which will cost thousands of pounds, while our schools will be closed. This is just poor planning."

However, Graham Short, director of education, argues that the surplus capacity of 6000 created by the new schools was built in to create "elbow room" for new pupils from the new housing estates.

Parents also contend that if St Xavier's, the only Catholic primary in the Doon Valley, were to close it would contravene the 1918 Education Act safeguarding the Catholic ethos.

Alternatives put forward for pupils include having a shared campus at the non-denominational Bellsbank or Patna primary with a separate entrance and playground; or travelling 18 miles to attending St Anne's Catholic school in Annbank, South Ayrshire.

"St Xavier's has a 100% pass rate in national testing, but other schools in the area are only half that. So they are not closing our school on educational grounds," says Surraya Healy, 31, who has two children at the school.

"We have submitted proposals for modernising our school building which would save the council hundreds of thousands of pounds and would mean we could stay where we are, but have had no response.

"We have also asked Douglas Reid, the SNP leader of EAC council, for help in our special case, but again have had no response."

Despite appearances, however, Mr Short insists the closures are not a fait accompli. "We deliberately included the status quo on all proposals," he says. However, he admits that while closing a school is a "very hard" decision, keeping a school open is equally tough because of the "disproportion in distribution of resources" to rural schools.

It would cost £2.4m a year to keep under-occupied schools open and a further £100m to make the four rural schools wind and water tight. Mr Short adds there was a "compelling" case for the proposals despite high educational attainment of the schools under threat.

"Education is not just about attainment. Both Galston and Mauchline are state-of-the-art schools. The Mauchline campus is wonderful, and Galston will be a "green" school heated by geothermal power and wind turbines and with grey water recycling. The existing small schools could never have that."

What about the compelling social argument for keeping rural communities intact?

"Of course we are concerned about rural communities, and that's why we framed the proposals the way we did, with viable alternatives.

"But you have to remember that 25 of the pupils at both Crossroads and Sorn are placement requests from parents in other villages, which means those parents aren't keeping to their own rural communities. One parent drives past four schools to get to Crossroads."

Parent Elaine Johnstone, 37, is another concerned parent.

"We moved from the west end of Glasgow to Sorn because of the school and because we wanted to experience village life," she says. "If the school closes we'll be moving back out. There would be no reason to live here."

Perhaps, however, there is hope for parents. Their efforts to focus the First Minister's attention on the matter earlier this week paid off. After waiting for Alex Salmond for almost three hours in the wind and rain on Wednesday, they were invited to an hour-long private meeting with him which took place after he had opened the flagship development Barclay House Heritage Centre in Kilmarnock.

Emerging from that meeting, Mr Salmond explained: "As the recent experience with the Trump group made clear, I cannot express an opinion on this matter, as it may be referred to ministers for consent at some point. But East Ayrshire Council is in the position of having very substantial capacity that's greater than the number of pupils they have. That is an issue it has to confront."

Sharon Miller, whose twin daughters are in primary two at Sorn, was at the meeting.

"We're feeling more optimistic now. I asked Mr Salmond if he would whip the SNP members of cabinet into shape," she says. "He smiled and shook my hand. Having the opportunity to put our case personally to the First Minister is every campaigner's dream."

But it's impossible to tell if the final outcome will be music to parents' ears.