On the motion for the Adjournment I have notice from Senator Paul Bradford that he proposes to raise the following matter: the need for the Minister for Education to indicate when it is proposed to start a building programme at Rahan national school, Mallow, County Cork. A serious accommodation problem will arise there in September 1987 as some of the present accommodation is extremely unsatisfactory.
Adjournment Matter. - Rahan (Cork) National School.
An Leas-Chathaoirleach
I am very glad to be afforded an opportunity to discuss this matter in the House. I welcome the Minister of State. Hopefully he will be able to provide me with some sort of satisfactory response. Senator J. O'Toole, himself a national school teacher, would also like to comment on the matter. I have no objection to him doing so although the problems of Rahan national school may not be of major national concern, as well as being a cause of great concern to the parents, pupils and teachers in that area, they are reflected in many other similar rural schools. Indeed the House will be aware that this type of problem in national schools has existed for decades past.
As a candidate for election to Seanad Éireann what I learned of most as I travelled around the country was the need to do something about the depopulation of rural areas and the consequential unnecessary build-up of populations in the urban areas. It is vital to our economic wellbeing and that of the countryside that we do our utmost to ensure a reversal of this trend of movement away from rural life. All of us should do whatever we can to help stabilise rural populations. Proper educational facilities constitute a vital part of the solution to this problem. We must insist that areas, such as Rahan and many others throughout the country have national schools capable of catering for the children in their catchment area.
Rahan itself is not a parish. It is a townland within Mallow parish. It was typical of any small rural community in the past, varying little in population and comprising mainly of farmers. However, in recent years there has been a large increase in its population as people have left the town of Mallow and its environs and moved out to places such as Rahan. As a result there has been a corresponding increase in the number of school-going children. This has caused problems, paramount among which now is that of the accommodation in the national school there. The present school is typical of national schools built in the thirties and forties. Like most national schools in similarly populated areas it comprises two rooms, a toilet and very little else. Continuous efforts were made, particularly during the seventies, to provide a lunchroom or cloakroom but, unfortunately, to no avail. Some years ago the numbers of children attending the school had increased to the extent that it entitled the school to a third teacher. When the third teacher was approved for appointment a prefab building was provided and was welcomed.
In December 1986 a fourth teacher's services become necessary. In order to allow the appointment of that fourth teacher there was no option open to the board of management of the school but to divide the prefab building in two. This has meant that both sections of the prefab building are over-crowded leading to a most unsatisfactory position. At present it appears that when the pupils return to school in September next there will be a net increase of 11 pupils bringing the total to approximately 120. Room 1 in the old building will house 36 pupils in a room measuring 21 feet by 17 feet. Room 2, which measures 21 feet by 15 feet will then accommodate 31 pupils. In the prefab building the first section which will measure approximately 17 feet by 11 feet will house 25 pupils and the second section measuring 22 feet by 11 feet will accommodate approximately 28 pupils. There is no toilet in the prefab building. Perhaps as an indication of its origin the windows in the prefab are wired up and cannot be fully opened. The House will readily appreciate that that is not very satisfactory or comfortable during whatever fine days we may have. Therefore, the position that will arise in September and later in 1987 will be very unsatisfactory indeed for all concerned in the school.
In January 1986 an application was made to the Department of Education to build two extra classrooms and one general purpose room. It was felt that such accommodation would allow for the satisfactory accommodation of the numbers of children who would be attending the school in ensuing years. Little attention has been given to that application. While I understand that the site was examined some weeks ago by an architect there has been no response from the Department to date. The parents are justifiably concerned about the situation obtaining. Their main fear is that if sufficient suitable accommodation is not provided pupils will be unable to attend the school, will have to leave that area and attend some other national school or schools located five or six miles away.
For a small local community that would be demoralising and cause all sorts of other problems. One problem that immediately springs to mind is the necessity to provide school transport. As the House will be aware the roads in small local areas are rarely sufficiently wide or in a condition to carry many of the school buses. Even if they were to travel on them it would be quite dangerous both for the people travelling on the bus and for motorists using those roads.
Another problem is that the community spirit and pride which always exist in small national schools will disappear as the numbers in the schools diminish. In the long run, as pupils continually leave the catchment area of a small national school you will see a general rundown of that school and unfortunately, as has happened in numerous cases throughout the country, the almost inevitable closure. It makes no economic sense whatsoever to allow this to happen.
It is only fitting to ask the Minister of State to do his utmost to provide some sort of suitable accommodation as soon as possible. The lack of economic sense which any other decision would entail would, as I say, be seen in the necessity to provide school transport, with the associated costs. It can be seen in the fact that whatever pupils will be leaving this area over the next few years will almost certainly be going to a national school nearby which, accordingly, will see its numbers increased beyond expectations and will probably need extra accommodation in a few years' time. The fall-off in numbers in Rahan school will, after one or two years, result in one or maybe even two of the teachers being let go.
If, however, the Department agree to the demands by the parents for the provision of extra accommodation — and I stress that what the parents, teachers and everyone within that area are seeking most of all is the provision of two extra rooms to be built on rather than placed on the site and a general purpose room — that would be the wise, long term solution. The area is lucky enough to be able to offer the guarantee that the number of pupils will always be quite high because of the population structure that has arisen there in recent times.
The four teachers at present working in the school, namely, the headmaster, Mr. O'Callaghan, and the other teachers, Ms Flaherty, Ms Connolly and Ms O'Callaghan, are all doing a very good job under difficult circumstances. I appeal to the Minister to do his utmost to rectify the situation as soon as possible and provide some sort of hope for the parents and teachers in that area and also to provide a long term hope for the future children of that area.
I would like to thank Senator Bradford for making some time available to me. I am a teacher and a principal of a rural school. One thing I found in my election campaign, travelling around the country and meeting teachers, was the true sense of urgency about a real building programme. In the Mallow area, when I was talking to some branch officers one of the things they stressed to me was that they had a number of schools in that area that needed support. This was one of the schools they mentioned.
It seems that in this particular school the Minister of State is actually in breach of his own departmental regulations. The idea of 31 pupils being in a classroom of 315 square feet actually goes away beyond anything his own rule book and regulations expect school managers to comply with. Both in that classroom and in the smaller classroom of 17 feet by 11 feet, we are talking about a breach of the departmental regulation as to the required area of square footage per pupil — and that concerns the prefab, never mind the specre of the prefab divided in two.
I am not sure if the Minister is aware of the fact that surveys have shown that there is a far higher incidence of absenteeism from prefabricated classrooms than from the permanently structured classrooms in a school. Surveys have also shown that pupils in these kinds of classroom suffer far more from chest infections and chest ailments than is the norm. The picture Senator Bradford has made clear to us here is one of pupils, parents and teachers battling against the elements. That will happen in the winter time in that school if something is not done.
There is always the question of priorities. I know that this will, no doubt, form part of the Minister's answer. Really in a small community, the school is of far greater importance. There has always been a tradition in his Department that in terms of allocating money to school buildings priority was always given to the school where numbers were on the increase, where there was a need to look after an influx into that area. In an area like Rahan the focal point of the community is the school. Dave Tussing, in his report on education referred to the national school as the ubiquitous national school which is to be seen in every townland in Ireland, in many cases the focal point of the community, as it certainly is in this case. When new parents come into an area, they do not get to know each other until their children begin to meet. They meet in the school. That is the environment.
It would be a shame, indeed, as the mover of the motion said, if the parents felt they had to leave on account of the conditions or overcrowding. I am sure I do not need to remind the Minister of the fact that the Constitution requires us to provide education for all our children. It does not stress the quality or the conditions in which they might be educated but I am sure he would agree from the description of the school outlined that it is not really the kind of place where learning or teaching can take place. It is not a proper environment. It has not a proper ambiance and it really is an area which requires urgent attention. I would appeal to the Minister to give us good news on this subject.
First, I would like to thank Senator Bradford and Senator O'Toole for their contributions on this issue. Rahan national school has, as both speakers have said, a staff of four teachers with a total complement of 109 pupils who at present are accommodated in two rooms of permanent construction and one prefabricated classroom which, I am aware, has been divided by a partition to form two teaching spaces. Until comparatively recently this was a two teacher establishment. Because of the increase in enrolment averages, a third teacher was appointed in March 1983. My Department agreed to grant-aid the provision of a prefabricated classroom. The grant was formally sanctioned in April 1984, the erection of the prefab and the necessary ancillary works having been completed by January of that year.
I am aware that, as a result of enrolments continuing to increase, a fourth teacher was appointed and this gave rise to a very difficult accommodation situation. My Department's inspector looked into the short term options in consultation with the school authorities and his recommendation as to the most suitable immediate expedient was the division of the prefabricated classroom with a view to accommodating two teachers in two smaller class groups on a temporary basis. Earlier, the Department had asked the Office of Public Works, who were then responsible for the planning and technical aspects of the provision of national schools, to prepare plans for the additional permanent accommodation for Rahan national school. My Department recently received a further letter from the school authorities renewing their application for permanent accommodation and are now seeking an urgent report from their professional advisers as to the possibility of providing a sketch scheme at an early date for the provision of the permanent accommodation for the school.
I should explain that, since the original application in this matter was made, my Department have assumed responsibility for the technical aspects of the national school building programme. Unfortunately, due to current workloads and staffing vacancies it has not been possible to attend as speedily as I would have wished to this project. In response to what both Senators said, we have a serious difficulty in the Department with regard to the backlog of projects which are now awaiting invitation to tender.
In fact, when I came into the Department the position was that it would take eight years to clear all the projects which are now in need of being constructed or expanded. This is not satisfactory. I am the first to admit that, but it is a real difficulty that we have such a huge backlog of projects. Because we have a small number of projects going ahead each year, that backlog has grown over the past number of years. That, basically, is the most difficult problem.
While I take the point both Senators made, in particular Senator O'Toole's point about the responsibility on the Department to provide adequate accommodation, we have a real problem in that at present we have 60 projects waiting to go to tender. We cannot allow them to go to tender because the full allocation of money for 1986 was spent last February or March before we took office. That is an indication of the pressures that are on the Department and which, unfortunately, I have been able to do very little about up to now.
An officer of my Department's primary building branch was recently in touch with the chairman of the school's board of management and indicated to him that to provide for the immediate needs of the school my Department would be prepared to grant aid the cost of another prefabricated classroom or, as an alternative, to give financial assistance towards the cost of renting suitable classroom accommodation if such was available. This offer is being considered by the school authorities and my Department await a response from them.
Because of the pressure on funds available to my Department for the provision of permanent buildings I am not in a position at this time to say when it may be possible to grant aid the permanent building in Rahan national school. I share both Senators' concern about the unsuitable conditions under which the school is operating at present and I can give every assurance that if the school authorities can come up with a proposal to solve their immediate needs, every assistance, including financial aid, will be given. In the long term, I can only promise to do my best to have the planning of the provision of permanent accommodation completed as quickly as possible.
I wish to stress that the difficult financial outlook constrains me from saying at this stage when building operations might commence. While I accept that this matter is vitally urgent, particularly because of the new classes which will be in the school in September, the only hope I can give the Senators at this stage in the short term is that my Department will provide a prefabricated classroom immediately, if that is acceptable to the school management board, or as an alternative, we are prepared to assist the management board in renting accommodation if they wish to do that.
The Seanad adjourned at 8.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Thursday, 16 July, 1987.