Protests have already been held over the closure plans

Opposition parties on Cardiff Council have said they will vote against the proposals due to come before the full council on Thursday.

Even so, the Liberal Democrat-led executive looked set to press ahead with a vote on the plans.

But councillors warned education in the city faces an "uncertain future" if the opposition voted against the shake-up.

Earlier this month, the authority set out wide-ranging plans to reorganise schools across the city in an attempt to get rid of 8,000 spare pupil places.

If we don't go ahead with a reorganisation of the schools system in Cardiff then the reality is that we will condemn certain schools, particularly in deprived parts of the city, to a slow and painful death Council leader Rodney Berman

Proposals including the closure of 17 schools in the city - with some replaced or merged - were unveiled on 5 April.

The minority Liberal Democrat-led administration had hoped to get the plans through so they could put them to a public consultation.

Council leader Rodney Berman said: "If we don't go ahead with a reorganisation of the schools system in Cardiff then the reality is that we will condemn certain schools, particularly in deprived parts of the city, to a slow and painful death.

"They will become increasingly starved of funds as the number of pupils continues to drop and surplus capacity across the city continues to rise."

Mr Berman added that without the changes, the council would be "unable to address" the school building repair backlog.

In Cardiff, 11 primary and six secondary schools are earmarked for closure although the authority is also planning to build three new secondary schools and expand some Welsh-medium schools.

Number of protests

The proposals were due to take place over a number of years. They also include changes to catchments areas and spending �300m over 10 to 15 years on building repairs.

Letters outlining the changes have been sent to parents in Cardiff and a three-month consultation period was due to take place.

There have already been a number of protests, including an immediate response by pupils at Cantonian High in Fairwater, one of the secondary schools scheduled to close.

Pupils and parents from St Illtyd's Catholic High School staged a silent protest at the plans while another 100 people from St Cuthbert's primary in Butetown marched to the council headquarters and the Welsh assembly.