SCHOOLS in Merseyside and Cheshire are facing a funding crisis because of declining pupil numbers. This means that schools are left with less cash in their coffers, with the consequence that they are unable to pay for the number of teachers they need.

It also means that some primary schools are amalgamating classes and teaching children of different ages together, because of the shortage of pupils.

This is what emerges from pupil head counts for the previous two academic years, carried out by each Merseyside council and Cheshire County Council.

These reveal, among other things, that Knowsley suffered the biggest drop in pupil numbers, while Liverpool has endured a decade of continual decline.

In total, across the whole region, student numbers have dwindled by nearly 9,000 over a period of 12 months.

This matters because the number of school pupils in each local authority bears a direct relation to how much money it gets from the central government Dedicated Schools Grant.

Fewer pupils means effectively "down- sizing" a school, with fewer teachers and bigger class sizes in a wider age range.

Some education chiefs are saying that a recent increase in the birth rate will stop the decline and boost numbers. But, if the schools have gone or been reduced in size, where are these pupils to go?

Each local authority is now having to find ways of restructuring its education system. In Liverpool, a total of 47 schools will be "rebuilt or revamped" by 2013.

In Knowsley, a massive £150m overhaul will see all 10 of its secondary schools close and pupils transfer to seven new Learning Centres.

Wirral started a review of its primary school places in 2006, with a review of the secondary sector also currently under way.

Other local authorities are making similar reviews and changes, showing that education is having to constantly evolve to deal with the challenges it is now facing.