Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 15 Dec 1993

Vol. 138 No. 14

Adjournment Matters. - Mallow (Cork) School.

Mr. Sherlock

I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach for giving me permission to raise this matter on the Adjournment. This is an important issue in the Mallow area. I thank the Minister of State for staying to reply and I hope, irrespective of the reply given previously that the points I make will be taken on board and that the Minister and the Department will respond. There are 32 children currently attending Scoil Ghobnatán in Mallow, County Cork, who have been without a teacher since last September. The pupils are now being supervised by their parents in an organised way and I appeal to the Minister to appoint a temporary teacher in accordance with a previous proposal of the INTO.

The background to this problem is the falling birth rate which has led to the decline in the number of children entering schools in Mallow, as in other areas of the country. There was a general agreement in Mallow that because of this there is a need to reorganise the schools generally in the area and the parents and the board of management of Scoil Ghobnatán fully support this. Since February 1993 they have been seeking to have a full debate on future policy regarding primary schools in Mallow which is borne out by a letter written by the board chairman to the town clerk of Mallow on 11 August 1993.

Scoil Ghobnatán is the only primary school on the south side of Mallow. When the school reopened in September, it seemed reasonable to the parents to keep their children in attendance in view of the fact that there were two empty classrooms. The alternative was to send them to schools on the north side of the town which involves sending their children through heavy traffic and leaving pre-school children at home. The parents have given a commitment to abide by any future decisions of the Minister for Education in the matter of overall school reorganisation in Mallow. However, pending this, it is important that the Minister should intervene to appoint a temporary teacher. The children have been without a proper teacher now for more than three months and they should not be asked to start another term in January without the teacher they need.

When the school reopened, as I said, it was reasonable to keep the children in Scoil Ghobnatán, the reason being that since February 1993, the other boards, despite the efforts being made, failed to come together to start the process of rationalisation which the Minister and the Department wanted carried out in Mallow at the time, and which is accepted as necessary. The failure of the delegate conference to make any positive progress towards a rationalisation of the primary school structure in Mallow leaves the 32 children in Scoil Ghobnatán without a teacher. Despite the willingness of the Scoil Ghobnatán parents' association to compromise on this, the boards of management of St. Patrick's and St. Mary's national schools still saw fit to veto the appointment of a temporary teacher to Scoil Ghobnatán. The reason there has been no progress in relation to rationalisation is because the boards of St. Patrick's and St. Mary's schools have refused to address the issue for fear of undermining their own position. Their stubborn position has been highlighted by their refusal to allow a temporary teacher for the 32 children in third class in Scoil Ghobnatán.

The parents stated they believe that the teachers in these two schools objected on 27 November — three days before the conference meeting and there was no mention of it at the conference — to the appointment of a temporary teacher, despite the fact that their jobs would not be affected. No teacher will lose his or her position due to rationalisation. The INTO, the only outside body to have examined the situation, recommended that a temporary teacher be appointed to Scoil Ghobnatán. The parents of Scoil Ghobnatán were willing to abide by the conditions laid down by the INTO proposal and have also made a commitment to abide by future decisions of the Minister for Education in the matter of school rationalisation in Mallow.

At a meeting with the manager of the school, Monsignor Denis O'Callaghan, on 11 November, the parents were assured that the situation regarding the appointment of a temporary teacher would be resolved at the delegate conference on 30 November. Following the meeting of the delegate conference, the manager informed the parents — and the board of Scoil Ghobnatán also reached the same decision — that he now had the acquiescence of all parties at the conference for the request for a temporary teacher for the 32 children. On 3 December the manager committed himself to making an immediate application to the Department of Education for a temporary teacher. The parents cannot understand why this application has not been made and why his commitment has not been honoured but it is reasonable to assume it was because of objections by teachers in St. Patrick's and St. Mary's schools.

The parents of the pupils of those schools say that they are indifferent to it and the manager, Monsignor O'Callaghan, said when he contacted the Department he found that two teachers had already voiced an objection. I heard him make that statement as I was present. I contend, like the parents and the board of management, that theirs is a legitimate request and that it is their constitutional right to have their children educated in their own locality. The space is available and it is unreasonable to expect that children should be forced to pass empty classrooms and cross town, particularly in the middle of winter, for no better reason than to safeguard the position of St. Mary's and St. Patrick's schools. That is the opinion in Mallow town. Have those people the right to veto a legitimate request to the Department for a temporary teacher to be appointed pending the outcome of the overall rationalisation?

I received a letter from the Minister and the position of the Department was that the status quo should prevail for the 1993-1994 period. The reason it did not happen is that it was plain the other schools would not co-operate in the conference that would lead to the future policy of rationalisation, hence, the decision by the parents to keep the children in Scoil Ghobnatán — in their locality and in the only school on the south side of the town. The main point I want to make is that it is unreasonable for the others to drag their feet as they have done. It is reasonable for the parents to say that there is space there and that they want their children educated in this school.

I appeal to the Minster and the Department to look at the situation with a view to having a teacher appointed pending the conference and to have the conference expedited. If there is to be a conference — and the whole future policy hinges on that — there is no reason any particular section should drag its heels on the matter.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Stagg)

I thank the Senator for raising this issue. There are six primary schools in Mallow town, including the Church of Ireland and the all Irish schools: Scoil Ghobnatán — boys and girls to second class inclusive; Mercy girls' national school — girls first class to sixth class; St. Patrick's boys' national school — boys first class to sixth class; Scoil Iosagáin — infant boys and girls; Gaelscoil Thomais Dhaibhis — full range boys and girls; Mallow Church of Ireland — full range boys and girls. There is certainly no shortage of classroom space in Mallow.

In April 1993 the authorities of Scoil Ghobnatán applied for sanction to retain boys and girls in third class from September 1993 and to be allowed to extend to a full range school. These pupils would normally have transferred to the Mercy girls and St. Patrick's boys' schools. Scoil Ghobnatán is located on the southside of the river Blackwater whereas the other schools are on the north side of the river. The school was established in 1970 for children up to and including first standard. The main reason for its establishment was that children of that age were too young to travel the 1.5 to 2 miles through the centre of the town to the schools on the northside. In 1986 the school was allowed to retain boys up to second standard and in 1992 to retain girls to second standard. The chief reason given for the request to develop to a full range school was that children in the third to sixth classes should not have to travel to the other schools because of their age.

Following the request the Department consulted the patron of the schools and the local inspector. Submissions were received from the school authorities of Scoil Ghobnatán, the school's parents' group, the Mercy girls' national school and St. Patrick's boys' national school. The authorities of the Mercy and St. Patrick's schools were totally opposed to any change in the status of Scoil Ghobnatán as it would significantly reduce their enrolments and lead to loss of teaching posts. I should add that with the declining demographic trends these schools' enrolments were already declining but the loss of the pupils from Scoil Ghobnatán would exacerbate the situation.

The Department considered that the question of the retention of pupils in Scoil Ghobnatán was part of the much larger issue which needed to be addressed, the question of the reorganisation of the schools generally in Mallow in the light of the expected major decline in enrolments in the centre. To allow for a fuller examination of this complex matter, the Department decided that the status quo should be maintained in the centre for the 1993-94 school year and that a major examination would take place early in that school year. The Scoil Ghobnatán authorities were informed of this decision in July 1993 and told that if the pupils were retained in the school in September 1993 they could not be included for staffing or capitation grant purposes.

The outcome was that the parents of the pupils in question presented their children at Scoil Ghobnatán on 1 September 1993 despite the Department's instruction. The school authorities felt they could not refuse the pupils entry and, accordingly, were allowed into the school. No additional teaching services were provided on the basis that these services were available in the schools to which the pupils should have transferred.

The present position is that the parish priest has held a number of meetings with the school managements to try to resolve the immediate problem of the Scoil Ghobnatán pupils and to raise the question of the general reorganisation of the schools in the town. The most recent meeting was held last Monday night with the boards of the Mercy and St. Patrick's schools. These boards are still totally opposed to any compromise solution for the appointment of a temporary teacher in Scoil Ghobnatán for the 32 pupils. Objections centred on two points: allowing irregular action by a group of parents to override a specific Department decision on a given matter would constitute a dangerous precedent which would undermine authority generally in the field of education; the present unacceptable situation of the 32 pupils retained in Scoil Ghobnatán without a teacher is due to that irregular action, for which the boards of the Mercy and St. Patrick's schools cannot be held responsible. The boards stated that the 32 children would be welcome in their schools, as they had always been.

The Department will now urgently review the situation in the light of the failure of the most recent local meetings to come forward with a compromise to resolve the present unsatisfactory situation of the pupils in question.