In the case of schools where amalgamations were made on the basis of central school buildings or substantial enlargements to schools being provided, the situation must be regarded as a fait accompli from which there is no retreat at this stage, whatever the merits or demerits of the original decision.
(7) It must be recognised that there are over 1,800 one- and two-teacher schools at present in operation and that a large number of two-teacher schools will continue in operation for many years to come. I should not wish it to be thought that I consider a full standard of educational attainment cannot or is not being achieved in present circumstances in these schools. I am aware that very high standards are being achieved in many of them and the Department of Education will be prepared, within the range of grants available and in the interests of the pupils, to give them full support while they continue to receive recognition.
It is worthwhile considering what we are aiming at in relation to re-organisation or rationalisation of second level schools. At the moment we have secondary schools, vocational schools, comprehensive schools and community schools. There is general agreement that the provision of secondary level needs to be comprehensive in a situation in which all children receive secondary education. I am talking now about second level education only. We cannot simply accept all children into our secondary schools and neglect to provide courses designed to meet their varying needs and develop their varying abilities. This is where practical considerations enter into the debate.
What size of school can provide a comprehensive curriculum at a tolerable level in terms of teaching staff and facilities? The problem of a broad spread of subjects becomes particularly acute at the leaving certificate level. It is possible to provide reasonably well up to intermediate certificate level in a two-stream entry school but thereafter it is impossible to cater adequately in that school for the numbers going on to leaving certificate level. The idea of junior cycle schools is not popular with managers, teachers or parents; yet, in many instances, is it not the only realistic alternative to closing a school altogether, something which would be less popular still?
Studies which have been made here show that a school of 500 pupils at least is required to provide a reasonably broad range of subjects, taking account of the current and capital costs involved; indeed, a school of 800 to 1,000 would be nearer the optimum in terms of costs per pupil. Similar research elsewhere shows broadly similar results. I have been struck by the research findings in this respect in Scotland and Northern Ireland. These struck me forcibly because, when figures like this are mentioned, critics immediately talk of British and American standards being applied here. Indeed, mention of figures like these inevitably gives rise to calculations of how many schools would have to be closed or amalgamated to achieve schools of this size and this immediately becomes a very emotive issue. What has to be remembered, however, is that what my Department is primarily concerned with is the question of investment—that is, how should the capital provided for second level school building be spent? This inevitably means two things: first, we must look to the future and provide for the needs of the future and not for the present; secondly, the whole process is a long-term evolutionary one and would involve only a small number of schools at any one point in time.
There is, therefore, no question of compulsory closures and amalgamations but, when the issue of a new school building arises in any particular case, then we must plan for the future. Very many secondary and vocational schools are large enough to provide comprehensive facilities. My Department is assisting them to do just that. Where, however, individual schools are not large enough to provide the kind of service that is required, then some means must be found of bringing the individual schools together. In most instances, there are two or three small schools in the one town and I think that, whatever happens, these schools must face up realistically to the situation and accept that it is simply impractical for each of them to go it alone. What the best solution will be in a particular case is a matter for discussion with all the interests involved, that is, all the interests involved who have the power of making decisions.
In new city areas, it would not, I think, make sense to perpetuate past and present divisions in this second level sector and new schools in these areas must be comprehensive in character, that is, they must provide comprehensive facilities and must be in a position to cater for all the children of the area and be willing to do so. The form of management in each such school is a matter for discussion with all the interests involved.
It is not my intention nor, indeed, would it be a practical proposition to provide community schools in every area of the country but the structure of management and administration which has been devised for community schools does offer a means of overcoming many of the obstacles which were hitherto cited as insurmountable when rationalisation issues were being discussed. It should also be remembered that the degree of State financing involved in community schools is very great, that the cost of providing schools has risen enormously and that traditional sources of secondary school provision may no longer be adequate to the task involved.
The overall theme of a recent OECD symposium on school building was summarised as follows:
(a) How to get the kind of school buildings which respond to changing educational developments?
(b) How to get enough of them at a price which can be afforded?
The first of these questions referred to the need for school buildings which serve present exigencies while looking to the future, and reflected a need for flexibility and adaptability: flexibility to allow of variety in teaching without physical change to the building and adaptability so that the building could be changed at some future date, without prohibitive cost, to meet unforeseen educational needs.
Variety in teaching is a theme we would all wish to pursue further and we might see it immediately as requiring provision for team work in large group and small group spaces, as well as in traditional classrooms, combined with the need for individual work areas and project areas.
There is the need to provide in building form also for the growing interaction between subject areas which were at one time considered separate and distinct, an extension, indeed, of what is happening at primary level, and to reflect the emergence of the practical and the theoretical, the academic and the technical as inter-related aspects of a curriculum serving the varying needs of students.
Finally, one must consider the social and pastoral needs of students and see the provision being made to meet these needs physically expressed in the building solution.
I now propose to do some thinking aloud about the curricular problems of second-level schools. In the process I intend to ask what I hope are some relevant questions, not to supply ready-made answers. Frankly, it is not easy to say what are the right answers to many of the problems but, perhaps, if I ask some of the right questions those of you who are listening to me in the House, and concerned educationalists outside the House, may be stimulated to help me reach some of the right and workable solutions to these problems.
You are all aware that a far larger proportion of the school age population is pouring into our schools, that a greater proportion of this group is remaining, or wishes to remain if they see any point in what is going on there, for a longer period and that education is no longer restricted to those socially and economically lucky enough to be able to afford it. How then can the schools effectively cater for pupils who come from every occupational group and class and who differ radically from each other—in environment, in ability, in motivation and in levels of expectation and aspiration. How best does one adapt to our current needs an academic curriculum designed for an able minority with special occupational requirements? Can we find, so to speak, a non-academic equivalent suitable to the needs of what is really a major portion of the pupils in our schools today? When we broadened the curriculum recently so as to give greater status to practical subjects and to business studies was this kind of exercise, admirable as it was in its purpose, the right answer? Was it even a significant step in the direction of achieving that "equality of educational opportunity" to which we never tire of referring to today?
When we criticise the "Black Paper" man whose theme song is "More means Worse" have we given serious consideration to substituting a song of our own entitled "More means Different" based on the idea that what we should be aiming at is so to change styles of teaching, so to improve the quality of learning materials, so to up-date the very organisation of the school itself that we will lessen the credibility gap which appears to exist all too frequently between what is taught in school and what pupils learn from their own experience in the world outside the classroom? Can we say with assurance that we have done enough to disprove, to some extent at least, McLuhan's glib dictum that children nowadays interrupt their education in order to go to school? How successful have we been in ensuring that education, which should be a leading into wonder, is not a leading into boredom? How successful have we been in our quest for an educational system that will really be relevant to the changing needs of our society in a world of kaleidoscopic change?
In that connection, have we been continually conscious of one obvious consequence of the recent and continuous explosion of knowledge? It has long since become impossible to learn everything about something. Have we been over-inclined to believe that pupils should now learn something about everything or, at least, about a lot of things? Have we persisted too much in our respect for the traditional range of subjects? Have we consequently tended to ignore the claims of new subjects comprised of well-organised bodies of knowledge? I am not to be understood as belittling traditional subjects. I yield to nobody in my respect for them. I am merely posing the desirability of keeping an open mind about the claims for admission to the curriculum of a new subject where such claims appear to have some validity in the circumstances of today.
It is well to remember that there is always the danger that when one introduces a new syllabus in a traditional subject one may merely be pouring old wine into new bottles. I am not saying that we have in fact done that in any instance. I am merely sounding a warning against complacency. I have been talking about traditional subjects, new subjects and complacency. Could I now venture the opinion that we have perhaps been somewhat complacent in our neglect of the two extremely valuable traditional subjects of music and art? The importance of music and art in the cultivation of aesthetic sensibility and as channels of communication and sources of occupation for leisure have long been recognised, certainly in theory, and by all of us. Have we always practised what we preached in these fields? I doubt it, but I am apportioning no blame. Should we not now be concerned as never before with encouraging interest in these two outstanding creative subjects which are immensely important in what I understand is called "the effective domain of educational objectives".
Leaving this technical terminology aside, is it not a fact that few subjects have greater relevance than music for students out of school hours? Are they not enthusiastically engaged in education in music day and night? We have just to look at the record shops, if not at the discotheques. Was there ever a generation which found rhythm more exciting or which had so many of its children busily engaged in teaching themselves to play some instrument? Is it not wholly admirable, in this day of ruthless competition in every sphere of life, to find that some school orchestras exist where teachers and students of every age and ability engage together in wholly pleasurable and non-competitive activity? I am happy to state that music as a subject in one form or another is becoming increasingly popular in our schools. I am looking forward to a strengthening of this trend.
Little comment is needed on the importance of art. It is obviously a wonderful means of self-expression in an age in which the encouragement of self-expression is one of the most attractive features of the current educational scene. It enriches the life of the students who study it. It develops their technical skills and their capacity for self-expression. It develops visual imagination and powers of observation. Even for the student who possesses little creative flair, contact with this subject is certain to enrich him culturally, as well as enabling him to acquire a very valuable asset—an appreciation of well-wrought work. I have little doubt that in speaking to the House thus I am merely preaching to the converted. I have said nothing at all about its significance in respect of the quality of our industrial products. This significance has been proved indisputably by those of our industrialists who, in increasing numbers, have had the wisdom to put artistic expertise to good and profitable effect in the design area of their products. Over the past few days I have had the opportunity of seeing this kind of work at close range on two occasions.
Deputy Lemass spoke this morning and made a very good contribution. The Deputy asked me about the possibility of decentralisation and what plans were afoot for decentralising the Department to Athlone. The position is that discussions are still going on about the sections which might be going to Athlone. I cannot give any information as to the numbers or times of transfer.
In the course of my introductory statement I referred to the pressure on students and schools arising from concern over examination results. I emphasised the importance of pupil guidance in helping pupils to reach their full potential. Encouraged by the observations of Deputies, I now wish to make some further remarks in this regard and in particular in relation to the leaving certificate examination. There is no gainsaying the fact that examinations have been a cause of concern in many countries in recent years because of their restrictive impact on curricular development. The under pressure on students, passed on to parents and returned from them to the students, is enhanced by the difficulty associated with effective pupil guidance. For these reasons Ministers of Education in various countries have experimented with different arrangements for modified forms of examinations, continuous assessment procedures and the provision of pupil guidance through the appointment of special teachers.
Our leaving certificate examination is a group subject examination as distinct from a single subject examination. The award of the certificate is dependent on a particular standard being reached by a specified minimum number of subjects. Until 1973 it was also dependent on a particular standard being reached in Irish. Deputy Faulkner, in the course of his intervention, stated that, although only 75 candidates failed the leaving certificate examination in 1972 because of failure in Irish, he recognised that a human element was involved and he felt uneasy about the requirement for a pass in Irish.
Deputies generally have welcomed my decision to remove the requirement of a pass in Irish for the purpose of qualifying for the award of the leaving certificate. They believe that such action should be to the advantage of the policy in relation to Irish through the replacement of compulsion by inducement and encouragement. The decision in relation to Irish has a further advantage in that it enables a measure of flexibility to be introduced into our thinking in regard to the purpose which the leaving certificate examination should serve, the form which the examination should take and the type of certificate on results which might be issued.
It is not feasible to remove all pressures from students any more than it is possible to remove all pressures form people at the later stages of their careers. Competition is a fact of life which students must face and to which they will have to learn to adjust their attitudes.
While, however, the degree of competition may appear to be greatest in the case of candidates in the higher ability groupings, who will be seeking place in universities, colleges of education, et cetera, it may well be that such candidates have a greater capacity to withstand this strain than candidates of less academic ability who constitute the majority of the students and for whom schemes of pupil guidance may be considered to have particular relevance. I consider that it may be appropriate and opportune that very careful thought should now be given to the needs of these students and to consider how they may best be helped to achieve their full potential.
Deputies will be aware that there is an increasing emphasis in education towards what may be termed child or student centre education. The Minister for Education and his Department occupy a pivotal position in relation to the formulation of policy affecting courses and examinations. The Minister is not however all-powerful and I would not wish that he should be so. There are many other voices which should be heard-school managers, teachers, university authorities, parents and, I should hope in one way or another, the students themselves. I am not therefore in a position to come before Dáil Éireann and state in connection with the explanation of the Estimates for my Department that I propose to introduce such and such to courses and examination conditions without first having the fullest discussion in relation to them with the relevant educational authorities.
It may not be considered in appropriate for me, however, to indicate in general terms some aspects of the present arrangements in relation to the leaving certificate examination which are causing some concern. I have already mentioned this. I consider that, in line with the practice in the majority of the countries in Europe, the course leading to the final examination of the secondary school course should be broadly based. The approved course should comprise five or six subjects, as in the case of the leaving certificate course at present. Pupils should have available to them expert advice through an adequate guidance service to help them to make the most suitable selection of the subjects to be taken. I am also of opinion that candidates should present this range of subjects at examinations. I do not see, however, why we should then proceed, even on the basis of the examination results, to separate the sheep from the goats or, to put it in another way, to brand some candidates as failures despite the fact that they will assiduously and conscientiously have followed the approved course and have done so at a pace suited to their capacities and talents. The leaving certificate examination should, in my view, serve the purpose of an incentive to students to achieve their potential and furnish them with evidence of their attainments in the subject for which they have achieved success.
It seems to me that a case could be made that such a purpose would be better served if the statement or certificate or results issued to a candidate indicated his achievement in the individual subjects in which he attained the specified minimum standard and that it should be neither necessary nor desirable, nor even defensible, to make the issue of a certificate dependent on the attainment of a particular standard in a specified range of subjects. Clearly our aim should be to afford all the encouragement possible to young people to enable them to overcome the difficulties and hurdles confronting them and not to impose the additional psychological burden of a feeling of failure at the outset of their careers. This is a matter which I feel deserves careful consideration and it is my intention to have it examined.
Discussion have been going on for some time past between my Department and Radio Telefís Éireann in regard to the desirability of an educational radio service for schools in addition to the schools television service already in existence. The stage has now been reached when Radio Telefís Éireann hope to be in a position to launch a pilot radio project for Gaeltacht national schools within the next 12 months. Radio Telefís Éireann have undertaken responsibility for the preparation and broadcasting of programmes and ancillary material for this initial project. My Department will make grants available to managers of Gaeltacht national schools to assist them to provide radio receivers and other ancillary equipment in order to enable the schools to participate in this project. Radio Telefís Éireann will also have available to it the expert advice of officials of my Department in connection with the preparation of the proposed programmes. I want to stress that this is a pilot project designed for Gaeltacht schools in the hope of offsetting some of the shortages in the matter of texts and ancillary reading with which Irish speakers have to cope. At this point I can say no more about the project except that I will make education in the Gaeltacht areas a special concern.
In the case of higher education the major policy preoccupation at this stage must be the need to secure that all the various elements of education at this level are considered constructively as a whole. I cannot think in terms of the university sector alone, serious and complex as the problems there are. I must also consider the needs of technical and technological education outside the universities and the growing demand for development in this sector as a vital element in meeting national needs.
I cannot neglect the urgent requirements for improvement and development in teacher training, nor can I ignore our needs in adult education and culture generally. The problems in these sectors are interrelated and demand a comprehensive approach. This is not to say that I feel we can indulge in the luxury of contemplating a global problem without seeking to disengage the priority areas and attempting to make such progress as we can within the resources currently available.
The time has not yet come, however, when I can outline for the Government the sectors to which I would propose to give priority attention. As I have already said on many occasions, every effort is being made to collate and assess the various views on the reports of the HEA and to produce concrete proposals. It will be some time yet before this is brought to a conclusion and rather longer before the White Paper can be issued.
Before I bring this section to a conclusion may I express the concern, which I feel must be shared by many parents, concerning the real interests of those who are at the centre of the educational process at all levels—the students. In higher education generally pressures are mounting all the time: pressure to secure a place, pressure to retain the place, pressure to pass the final examination, pressure to secure a post in a fiercely competitive society. We are travelling farther and farther from the leisured groves of academic— if they ever really existed to that extent—and I fear sometimes that we are approaching the point at which the accumulated pressures may inhibit real education. Is there a hope that in this sector, as in the secondary sector, some means could be found—for example, continuous assessment or a credits system—to reduce some of the strain?
I now wish to refer to the various topics and questions raised by Deputies. I think it was Deputy power who raised the question of pre-school education—so did a number of other Deputies. There does not appear to be adequate appreciation of our traditional position in this respect. Children may be enrolled in our national schools from the age of four years and an appropriate programme is provided for them. The numbers attending between four and five years represent 64 per cent of the total age group; the figure for the five to six age group is 95 per cent. Below the age of four years it is not at all clear that there is any strong general educational reason for having children at school rather than at home.
There may be a social reason in some cases and this may be of increasing significance with increasing urbanisation. Nevertheless, there is much to be said for the view that parents are the best educators of young children and should be allowed to continue in that role. I would also hazard an opinion that when children are disadvantaged by both parents being out at work it would be only reasonable to expect a fair financial contribution form those parents towards any pre-schooling of their children.
In any event, the various factors involved are under special consideration and the results of the Rutland Street project will be of particular interest. This project is due to come to completion next summer and when the recommendation are submitted by the steering committee we will be in a better position to chart possible future lines of action especially in the matter of pre-school education for disadvantaged children.
Deputy Power referred to children of four to five years being unable to secure admission to a primary school. The school of which he spoke is due to be replaced by a new building and a tender for the work is expected to be accepted shortly. I can give further information to the Deputy if he consults me about it.
Again in reply to Deputy Power, there is nothing in the primary school curriculum to suggest that there is no place for memory work. What is suggested is that memorisation should follow understanding rather than precede it, as so frequently happened in the past. This is not a change for the sake of change but something based on sound psychological and pedagogical principles.
There was a suggestion that we should not let the three Rs obtrude on the new curriculum. We must remember, however, that as long as literacy and numeracy are important, the three Rs must be regarded as basic and fundamental to family education. While saying this I should also like to make it quite clear that, although ability to read and understanding of numbers are not being emphasised as ends in themselves, they are nevertheless very important and recognised as such in the primary school curriculum.
Deputy Hussey mentioned the place of agriculture in the primary school curriculum. The study of a specific science subject such as agriculture presupposes a background of general scientific knowledge which is entirely beyond the capacity of the primary school child and utterly unsuitable for inclusion in a primary school curriculum.
On the other hand, what is included in the primary school curriculum is the study of the child's environment, a study of plant and animal life, of natural phenomena as well as a study of elementary science in the way best calculated to arouse the interest and curiosity of the child. I feel certain that the most enthusiastic devotee of agriculture who studies the curriculum will be more than satisfied with its content and with the attitude which it strives to cultivate. Indeed I may add that farming and other rural organisations have expressed their unqualified approval of this aspect of the curriculum.
Deputy Briscoe referred to Montessori teachers. The new curriculum owes much to the methods and approach employed by the teachers of infant and junior classes in our own schools and to the extension of these methods to the middle and senior classes. That Montessori had an influence on the teaching of young children cannot be denied, but far more significant from the point of view of the new curriculum is the contribution of such educational thinkers as Froebel, Dewey and Piaget. The directress as trained for the pure Montessori school would normally have done only a six months course on the use of the Montessori materials. Where a longer course of training is given, it is primarily to provide an opportunity to study the work of other educational thinkers whose theories are less rigid and more widely accepted. Montessori-trained teachers are not recognised in ordinany national schools here because their training is not regarded as a suitable preparation for the work in those schools.
Deputy Hogan O'Higgins asked about guidance for slow learners. As far as primary school leavers are concerned, what is required is not a guidance service but to ensure ease of transfer from primary to post-primary and that the courses of study available in our post-primary schools should be as comprehensive as possible so as to cater for the varying aptitudes and abilities of the children. The new curriculum in the primary schools provides an integrated course of studies, and as a follow-on to this it is essential that the courses available at junior cycle level in our post-primary schools should be similarly integrated.
In references at this level to slow learners, it would seem that what were meant were those pupils needing remedial teaching. In this matter we aim to provide an additional teacher in all large schools, that is, those of ten teachers or more, in which there is a remedial problem. Where the need exists in more than one school in any area but the appointment of a remedial teacher would not be warranted by the numbers in any one school, we can approve an appointment to serve several schools.
The question was asked if we could provide one or two remedial teachers in all large towns. The position is that there are already about 250 teachers employed whole-time on remedial teaching in the cities and towns throughout the country and it is proposed to increase this number by 80 each year until the full requirements are met. Under the proposals which are at present being discussed with the interests concerned in regard to regionalisation, it might be possible to provide pools of teachers in each region to cope with this problem, particularly in so far as smaller schools are concerned where the employment of such specialists would not normally be warranted on a full-time basis.
Deputy Coughlan and others asked about school text-books and some Deputies expressed anxiety about expense arising from changes in text-books. I want to assure them that circulars are issued from time to time requesting school authorities to avoid any unnecessary changes in the texts used in their schools. The introduction of the new primary school curriculum has necessitated the gradual replacement of outmoded texts by up-to-date publications prepared specially to cope with the new programmes. It is envisaged that these new texts will not be revised for at least five years from the date of publication.
The average class size in our primary schools is 32, but the distribution of the teaching force over the schools is very uneven because of the very large number of small schools. Any improvement in the situation in regard to large classes depends on such factors as (a) the available supply of teachers and the speed with which additional numbers can be trained and (b) the rate at which amalgamations of small schools can be achieved and teachers released to areas of greater need. However, we should not overplay this one because the release of teachers in these areas need not mean necessarily a change in the position in, say, urban areas where there is the greater need.
The House will be aware of the very considerable improvement effected this year in the allocation of teachers to our large schools. I would hope that it would be possible to effect further improvements next year in the overall pupil-teacher ratio. The number admitted to training this year— 1,005—was the highest in the history of the State and increased numbers are being provided also through the intake of graduates and the admission of English teachers. We must bear in mind, however, that when the three-year course of training is introduced from September, 1974, there will be no graduates from the normal training course two years later. Obviously, this will limit our ability temporarily to effect further improvements in the pupil-teacher ratio.
A question was asked concerning how many teachers have been "saved" by amalgamations and how their services have been utilised. The position is that since 1966 more than 1,100 schools have been closed through amalgamations and it is estimated that 800 teaching posts have been saved. The extra teachers made available as a result of school rationalisation have been absorbed in (1) extra posts created through a reduction in pupil-teacher ratio; (2) posts temporarily occupied by unqualified teachers and (3) provision of remedial teachers and the need for special schools for the handicapped.
Deputy Fergus O'Brien and other Deputies, too, spoke of school leavers. In reply to them I should say that the latest figures available show that in the school year 1971-72 about 7,400 children left school between the age of 14 and 15 and about 8,000 left between the age of 15 and 16. The school leaving age was raised to 15 with effect from 1st July, 1972. This should bring about a considerable reduction in the numbers leaving between the age of 14 and 15. The provision of a welfare service for particular groups of children in this age range should be primarily a matter for the Minister for Health and Social Welfare. So far as education is concerned, I have asked my Parliamentary Secretary to undertake a special investigation to determine educational priority areas and the whole question of special provision for such areas.
On the subject of school record cards and the request for a review of the system, it must be accepted, I think, that experience of its working has not been entirely satisfactory. We are having a close look at the arrangements and we will see what can be done to make the system serve better the purpose for which it was introduced.
Deputy Fergus O'Brien and other Deputies, also, spoke of the system whereby under the rules for national schools the manager is the person charged with the direct government of the school and is regarded by the Department as the representative of the local interest. The Deputy was speaking of parent-teacher-student relationships. However, in recent years particularly it is known that many parent-teacher associations have been established. The Department have encouraged the formation of such associations with the aim of parents involving themselves in the education of their children in collaboration with the school manager. The establishment of these associations would be a matter primarily for local initiative. As Deputies are well aware, the question of associating parents more closely with the management of national schools has been raised with the managers' association and is under consideration by them.
On the question of the use of schools after hours, subject to the consent of the manager and certain general conditions in the case of schools vested in trustees, the Department offer no objection to the use of national school buildings for purposes other than school purposes—for example, parochial or community development.
Deputy Kitt referred to the attendance of pupils at Irish courses conducted this year in the summer colleges. While all applications for payment of instruction fees for these courses have not been forwarded yet to my Department, the indications are that the total number of pupils will be of somewhat the same order of magnitude as in previous years. The number for 1973 may be about 600 less than in 1972 but 2,000 greater than in 1971. The figure for 1972 was unusually high, at 1,500 approximately. The number in each of the four years 1970 to 1973 was as follows: 1970, 11,635; 1971, 12,427; 1972, 15,021 and 1973, 14,400 approximately.
Deputies Desmond, O'Sullivan, Hussey and Raphael Burke spoke of school buildings. Primary school accommodation in rapidly expanding areas is a first priority in the school building programme. The present position in regard to a number of places about which specific questions were asked is as follows: Carrigaline—it is proposed to erect two new 12-classroom schools, one for boys and one for girls. The manager has offered a site and is at present seeking further additional land suitable for the erection of the two schools. To alleviate the accommodation position grants have been sanctioned for the erection of three prefabricated classrooms at the schools: Ballincollig—the proposals for this expanding area are (a) to extend the existing school building to provide accommodation for either boys or girls in 12 classrooms and a general purpose room and the extension of four rooms and a general purpose room is in the course of erection, (b) to erect a new 12-classroom school for the other boys or girls on a new site. A grant was sanctioned on 5th April, 1973, towards the cost of this scheme.
Deputy O'Sullivan referred to the Beara Peninsula. This is an area where a little self-help would be in order and this should not be beyond the limited means available locally. Since the question was raised particularly, I should say that of the 21 schools in the area there are two with only one room, 16 with two rooms and only three with more than two rooms. Thirteen of these schools have only dry toilets and 19 have no general purpose rooms. Twelve of them are proposed for replacement by five central schools. The position is bad but there is no good reason why, since the issue of Circular No. 22 of 1967, something should not have been done locally in the matter. That circular empowers managers to go ahead with the installation of suitable heating and toilet facilities at existing schools. There is a minimum of formality in this matter and in necessitous cases such as this there are State grants guaranteed which would cover practically all of the cost involved.
Attention was drawn in the debate to a somewhat similar situation but one on a larger scale in Galway. In this case a planned programme is under way to provide up-to-date facilities and this will be completed as soon as possible.
The provisions which apply to the payment of grants towards the cost of maintenance, heating, cleaning and painting of national schools and the rates of these grants are under constant review by the Department. They are increased from time to time as circumstances permit. The grants are not intended to cover the total expenditure involved but to supplement amounts provided from local sources. A reasonable local contribution towards the cost in question is a fair requirement of the system of local management of national schools.
I turn now to the secondary school building programme. Having completed our references to school buildings for primary education it is appropriate to commence consideration of this aspect of secondary education. During the past few years we have been faced in this country and will continue to be faced, as will other countries, with a highly inflationary situation which renders extremely difficult control of building costs. These costs have increased 40 per cent over the past 18 months in England. We have increased our cost limit per square foot, progressively, from £5.50 to £7 since 1969.
