Emily Johnson, 11, pictured with her mum Louise, says: 'It would be horrible. I'd be away in the hostel by myself' Photograph: Louise Johnson

Up to 112 children aged as young as 11 are set to be forcibly sent to boarding school under controversial plans by Shetland Islands council. The most radical proposal now under public consultation would see three junior high schools closed on the smaller islands by 2016, and pupils sent to board at Anderson high school on Shetlands biggest island, Mainland.

It would be horrible. Id be away from home in the hostel on my own, Monday morning to Friday afternoon, says Emily Johnson, 11. Id miss my family. I wouldnt be able to carry on with my knitting group. What happens if I turn ill? Now my mum looks after me. All this is worrying me already.

Emily and her brother Scott, 13, attend Whalsay schools junior high, along with their brother Ian, seven, who goes to the primary. Under proposals by Shetland council, the school could be closed, or at the very least lose its final year secondary 4 for pupils aged 13-14. There is an identical proposal for the island of Yell, which also has just one junior high school. Come next autumn, pupils on Unst will face the same threat as will children attending two remote schools in Sandwick and Aith on Mainland.

There is no other secondary provision on the island of Whalsay. If councillors vote to close the school, children as young as 11 would be forced to travel to Shetlands capital, Lerwick, and become weekly boarders.

Islanders are worried and angry. In recent consultation meetings on Whalsay and Yell, community halls were packed full of parents who made their distress clear to officials and councillors.

The feeling was totally unanimous against both proposals, says Lynne Wilson, a Whalsay parent and teacher at the junior high. Some were quite emotional. But it really did feel like knocking your head against a brick wall.

Shetland council claims its plans are intended to improve pupils education. Gary Robinson, independent leader of the council, says: What were offering is a better education than they would get on the islands. Since Scottish government reforms in 2010, local authorities must provide a wide range of vocational and workplace experiences alongside the standard curriculum in the final three years of secondary school. Robinson says offering quality placements and vocational training will be difficult enough on Mainland, which has a population of 19,000, let alone on the smaller outlying islands with communities numbering around 1,000 each.

But parents, who have formed a campaign group called Communities United for Rural Education (Cure), disagree. Education here works, says Louise Johnson, Emilys mum. This summer, the first cohort of secondary students in Scotland took the new national qualifications since the 2010 Curriculum for Excellence reforms. According to figures from Shetland council, Mid Yell and Whalsay schools outperformed average results for the rest of Shetland. More than 85% of Mid Yell students and 79.7% of Whalsay pupils passed the National 5 exams (the Scottish equivalent of GCSEs taken at 14) at grades A-C, whereas for Shetland overall 78.9% did. Wilson asks: Why would you force your children away from home, especially to a school where frankly theyll get a poorer result?

The parents argue that closing the schools on the smaller islands is all about making cuts, not about raising educational outcomes. Robinson disagrees. The reality is that this council has always prioritised education, and has always spent more than its got from government on education, he says. Central government hands over 29.5m a year for Shetlands education system. The council, he says, stumps up 48.5m that has to be found from somewhere. But Robinson has to admit that, with the councils grant reduced by 18% since 2010, like every other authority in the land we are having to reduce our costs. Would closing outlying schools cut educational costs? I do believe the savings weve estimated are accurate, he says carefully.

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Shetland Islanders fight plan to force children to boarding school