I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for affording me the opportunity to raise the serious issue of the rejection of the application for a 12th teacher at Belgrove senior boys schools, Clontarf. I urge the Minister present, the Minister of State at the Department of Education and Science, Deputy Brian Lenihan, to listen carefully to the genuine case of the teachers, parents and pupils of the school who face a serious staffing problem in September 2003. I demand support for Belgrove school.
The background is that the number of pupils on the school roll was 324 at the end of September 2002, which was one pupil short of the number necessary to qualify automatically for a 12th classroom teacher required to cater for the numbers coming through from the junior boys' school in September 2003.
In March 2001 Belgrove boys senior and junior schools, which share a common campus, received approval by the Department of Education and Science to proceed with the planning procedure to build two 12-classroom schools. The junior boys' school, which is the feeder school to the senior boys' school and provides nearly all of its intake of pupils, received approval around the same time to recruit a 12th classroom teacher. This has resulted in the position that there will be one extra class to be catered for by the senior school next September, arising from an intake of three classes from the junior school totalling 75 pupils and two classes, totalling 69 pupils, graduating from the senior school. In other words, unless the senior school receives approval to recruit an extra teacher, 11 teachers will have to cater for 12 classes, necessitating the three incoming classes being condensed into two classes, one of 37 and one of 38 pupils. This is unacceptable given that the maximum size set by the Department is 29 pupils.
Total numbers enrolled at the school will increase from 330, to which may be added as many as six pupils, based on the school's experience of further applications from the area. The parents and children involved are extremely angry and concerned at this prospect which they fear will result in disruption to their children's education and will set back progress. They are also at a loss to know the reason the status quo of three teachers cannot be maintained for the coming year, given that the numbers will be adequate at the end of September 2003 to qualify automatically for an additional teacher in 2004.
At a packed meeting of the parents on Tuesday, 13 May attended also by most of the parents of the incoming boys, parents expressed anger and frustration at the manner in which the school is being treated by the Department. They are also concerned at the extra pressures which will be placed on the teachers who will be required to teach oversize classes. While recognising the demands on the Minister's time and the pressure on resources, I ask him to reconsider the school's application in light of the facts I have outlined.
If we are serious about education and developing schools, the Minister has a duty to intervene and grant the 12th teacher and if he does so, we will all win. I urge him to reconsider his position on this matter and allow the school to get on with the job of providing a top quality education service to the pupils of Belgrove senior boys' school in Clontarf.