Seanad Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 1 Jun 1994

Vol. 140 No. 13

Adjournment Matters. - Mallow (County Cork) School.

Mr. Sherlock

I am glad of the opportunity to raise this matter on the Adjournment. I wondered if the Minister for Education would reply, but obviously she has delegated the responsibility. I hope that the reply which she has delegated is in the affirmative. Sixty parents travelled from Mallow to Cork this morning and in a peaceful protest handed in a letter to the inspectorate in the Department of Education in Cork. The case which I want to make this evening is to have expedited the upgrading of the school and the appointment of a teacher.

The need for the rationalisation of primary school structures in Mallow was raised as early as February 1993. Monsignor Denis O'Callaghan decided to convene a delegate conference of the boards of management of six schools in the parish, the purpose of which was to identify all relevant factors. The conference got underway but failed to make any recommendation. As a result, the parents decided that their children who would be due to transfer to other schools on the north side of Mallow when they were due to go into third class in September should remain in Scoil Ghobnatan. They took this course because there were empty classrooms available and because they considered it more logical for all the children in a family to be in the same school for primary education. This would provide great relief for parents.

The pupils were supervised by the parents in the school from September to December 1993. The Minster stated that no change would take place in the 1993-94 school year. The parents accepted this and appointed a qualified teacher, who is at present teaching in the school and being paid by funds raised by the committee and the community. The INTO, which was the only outside body to examine the situation, recommended in 1993 that a temporary teacher be appointed and the parents were prepared to accept the condition laid down by the INTO proposal.

As the Minister and Department officials are well aware, the demographic trends in Mallow favour a general reorganisation of the primary schools to make better use of the facilities which are available. The parents have a legitimate case and a constitutional right to have their children educated in their own locality, especially as the space is available. The parents contend that the rights of children are paramount and I urge the Minister for Education to approve the appointment of a teacher and to sanction the upgrading of the school. The Minister has the power under the rules for national schools to authorise a change in the status of any school.

The 1993-94 school year — the period during which the Minister said that a decision would be made — is now almost ended. Given the commitment of the parents and the community to the school, I appeal to the Minister to make a decision without further delay. In their letter to the Minister the parents said:

As a teacher, Minister, you will appreciate that the last month is spent organising the new school year and we are not in a position to do that as we are awaiting your decision. We very much regretted that agreement could not be achieved locally through the delegate conference. Nevertheless, we feel that a positive decision in our case would lead to constructive planning and organisation throughout schools in Mallow generally.

I appeal to the Minister to make that decision now.

Minister of State at the Department of the Environment (Mr. Browne,

Wexford): I thank the Senator for raising this issue. There are six primary schools in Mallow town, including the Church of Ireland and all Irish schools. These are Scoil Ghobnatan, with boys and girls to second class inclusive; the Mercy girls' national school with girls from first to sixth class; St. Patrick's boys' school with boys from first to sixth class; Scoil Ios-again with infant boys and girls; Gaelscoil Thomáis Dhaibhis with the full range of boys and girls and Mallow Church of Ireland school with the full range of boys and girls.

In April 1993 the authorities of Scoil Ghobnatan 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 Ghobnatan is located on the south side 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 it was considered that children of that age were considered too young to travel the 1.5 to 2 miles distance through the centre of the town to the schools on the north side. In 1986 the school was allowed 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 also not have to travel to the other schools because of their age.

Following the request the Department consulted with the patron of the schools and the local inspector. Submissions were received from the school authorities of Scoil Ghobnatan, school parent groups, Mercy Convent girls' national school and St. Patrick's national school. The authorities of the Mercy Convent and St. Patrick's schools were totally opposed to any change in the status of Scoil Ghobnatan 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 Ghobnatan would exacerbate the situation.

The Department considered that the retention of pupils in Scoil Ghobnatan was part of the much larger issue which needed to be addressed, that is, the reorganisation of the schools generally in Mallow in light of the expected major decline in enrolments in the centre. In order 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 a major examination would take place early in that school year. The Scoil Ghobnatan authorities were informed of this decision in July 1993 and were also informed that if the pupils were retained in the school in September 1993 they could not be included for staffing or capitation grant purposes.

The present difficulties arose from the decision by the parents of the pupils in question to ignore the Department's decision in the matter. The parents presented their children at Scoil Ghobnatan on 1 September 1993 despite the Department's instruction. The school authorities felt that they could not refuse the pupils entry and, accordingly, they 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 parents supervised and taught the children themselves for a number of months and subsequently employed a private teacher. That remains the position.

The parish priest following a preliminary meeting of the boards on 23 September last organised a delegate conference to discuss the immediate problem and the question of a general reorganisation of the schools in the light of declining enrolments. Each school was represented by the chairperson of the board, a parent and a teacher. The full conference met on seven occasions and between meetings, the various groupings, chairpersons, parents and teachers met to discuss and formulate proposals.

The outcome of this conference was disappointing in that agreement in resolving the issue was not forthcoming. A proposal from the conference chairperson regarding an appointment of a temporary teacher to Scoil Ghobnatan pending a resolution of the difficulties was objected to by the Mercy Convent girls and St. Patrick's boys' schools for two main reasons. These were that 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 and that the present unacceptable situation of the 32 pupils retained in Scoil Ghobnatan without a teacher is due to that irregular action, for which the boards of the Mercy convent and St. Patrick's schools cannot be held responsible.

The Senator will appreciate that the difficulties in Scoil Ghobnatan are complex. However, the Minister is giving the matter detailed consideration at present and a decision will be conveyed to the school authorities before the end of the school year.

Mr. Sherlock

Following a meeting of the delegate conference, the monsignor informed the committee that he had the acquiescence of all parties to the conference for a request for a temporary teacher for the 32 children at Scoil Ghobnatan. On 3 December, Monsignor O'Callaghan made a commitment to make an immediate application to the Department of Education for a temporary teacher. There is a conflict between that statement and the statement issued by the Minister. I want to put that on record.

The Seanad adjourned at 8.5 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 15 June 1994.