This is a straightforward request for the Minister to allow the extension of St. Coleman's National School, Clara, County Kilkenny. The building unit in the Department has already approved detailed design and contract documents for the project and it awaits the green light to allow it proceed to tender.
This school is close to Kilkenny City, in a developing area with many new houses. Unfortunately, although there have been numerous requests for places for pupils, the school cannot accept them due to the restrictions in the classrooms and the facilities available to students and teachers. Five years ago there were 130 pupils and five teachers in the school. There are now 171 pupils. In that period the number of teachers has increased from five to six – only one extra teacher. Unusually, the teaching principle has the biggest class of 32 children, with half of the fifth class and the entire sixth class.
Clara national school has been sanctioned for a major extension since 2000. As well as the 171 pupils and six teachers, there is a shared learning support teacher, a part-time resource teacher, a classroom assistant and a caretaker. There is no room to employ a secretary. The accommodation is alarming and unsuited to the modern needs of primary schools. One classroom is also used as a lunchroom and sick bay. There is no staff room or adequate facilities for visiting medical personnel and all classrooms are below the minimum size stipulated by the Department of Education and Science, and, therefore, are hazards to health and safety. Recently the school bought some furniture but when it was delivered, it was impossible to install it because of the size of the classrooms. The resource teacher sometimes has to teach pupils in the corridor when the learning support teacher is in the school.
Conditions in the school are atrocious for both staff and students. The parents and the board of management are annoyed about this and asked me to bring their protest to the floor of the House in the hope that the Minister will address the situation. The facts speak for themselves. The details are on file in the Department and have been the subject of many parliamentary questions, representations by politicians and numerous contacts by the board of management with the Department of Education and Science. The chairman has been told repeatedly that it is expected that a decision will be made in the near future. Where it has been indicated that a project can proceed to tender, we should not have to wait around – we should prioritise.
I ask the Minister to use his good offices to ensure this project proceeds to tender stage and we can convey that news to the excellent staff and students of St. Coleman's National School, Clara.
